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>4 


SILOS  AND  ENSILAGE 

THE  PRESERVATION 

OF 

Fodder  Corn  and  Other  Green  Fodder  Crops. 

Comprising  the  Most  Recent  Information. 

NEW  AND  ENLARGED  EDITION. 
EDITED   BY 

DE.    GEOEGE    THUEBER, 

OF  THE  AMERICAN  AGKICULTURIST. 

I L  L  U  S  T  RAT  E  D 


NEW    YORK: 

0.  JUDD   CO.,  DAVID  W.  JUDD,  Pres't, 

751    BROADWAY. 
1886. 

m- 


Entered,  accoraiDg  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1886,  by  the 

O.   JUDD    CO., 

In  the  OflSce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction 7 

How  is  the  Fodder  Preserved. - 9 

Chapter  I. 
The  Progress  of  Ensilage 11 

Chapter  II. 
Raising  Fodder  Corn  for  Ensilage 13 

Chapter  III. 

Location  of  and  Building  the  Silo -   15 

The  Size  of  the  Silo... 19 

Chapter  IV. 

Cutting  and  Storing  the  Fodder 20 

The  Proper  Size  to  Cut  Fodder 20 

Filling  the  SUo 21 

Covering  the  Silo 22 

Salt  and  Straw 22 

Chapter  V. 

Concrete  Silos .  ...  23 

Whitman  &  Burrell  on 26 

Chapter  VI. 
European  Experiments  in  Ensilage 27 

Chapter  VII. 
Messrs.  Buckley's  Experience  in  Ensilage 36 

Chapter  VIII. 
Whitman  &  Burrell's  Silos..  41 

(3) 


192C 


4  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  IX. 
Ensilage  in  Himgaxy 47 

Chapter  X. 
Tlie  Ensilage  of  Brewers'  Grains - 51 

Chapter  XI. 
The  Ensilage  of  Other  Crops  than  Com. --.  54 

Chapter  XII. 
The  Nutritive  Value  of  Ensilage --.  60 

Chapter  XIH. 
An  Above  Groimd  Silo - 66 

Chapter  XIV. 
' '  Sour-Fodder  " — Primitive  Ensilage - -  -  69 

Chapter  XV. 
Ensilage  in  Germany -  -  -  '''S 

Chapter  XVI. 
Sweet  Ensilage - 77 

Chapter  XVII. 

Experience  with  Ensilage 80 

Chapter  XVIII. 

Supplementary  Notes  on  Ensilage 85 

Increasing  the  Capacity  of  a  Silo 85 

Ensilage  for  Poultry 86 

The  Chemistry  of  Ensilage 86 

The  Character  of  the  Manure 88 

The  Ensilage  Congress 88 

Crimson  or  Scai-let  Clover 89 

To  Build  a  Cheap  Silo 89 

The  Temperature  in  the  Silo 90 

Nomeuclatm-e--- - - 90 


PEEFACE  TO  THE  NEW  AND  ENLARGED 
EDITION. 

When  this  work  was  first  published  the  preservation  of 
green  fodder  in  the  silo  was  new  to  the  majority  of  Ameri- 
can farmers.  Since  then  this  method  has  passed  beyond 
its  doubtful  stage,  and  the  question  at  present  is  not 
so  much  as  to  whether  it  is  practicable  and  profitable  to 
preserve  fodder  as  ensilage,  as  how  to  build  the  best  and 
most  economical  silos,  and  the  proper  treatment  of  their 
contents.  The  object  of  the  first  edition  was  to  present 
in  a  compact  form  the  essential  facts  concerning  silos  and 
ensilage ;  a  new  edition  being  called  for,  such  additions 
have  been  made  as  the  progress  of  the  method  required, 
and  the  work  is  thus  materially  enlarged  as  well  as  es- 
sentially improved. 

Though  the  agricultural  world  is  indebted  to  M.  Gof- 
fart,  of  France,  for  first  demonstrating  the  practicability 
of  preserving  fodder  in  the  silo  upon  a  large  scale,  others, 
especially  in  this  country,  have  done  much  to  simplify 
and  improve  the  method.  Here,  where  the  principal 
fodder-crop,  maize,  attains  its  greatest  perfection,  this 
method  of  preserving  it  should  prove  of  the  greatest  value 
to  our  agriculture.  Already  American  ingenuity  has  pro- 
duced machines  and  appliances  for  facilitating  the  labor 
incidental  to  the  method,  and  the  construction  of  the  silo 
has  been  greatly  simplified.  American  scientists  have 
increased  our  knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of  the  silo,  and 
investigations  still  in  progress  promise  to  enable  us  to 
control  the  changes,  which  occur  within  the  silo  more 
effectively  than  heretofore. 

Neiu  York,  June,  1886. 
(5) 


PREFACE    TO    FIRST    EDITION. 


The  method  of  preserving  green  crops,  especially  tliose 
of  fodder  com,  by  means  of  Ensilage,  is  one  that  the 
wide-awake  farmer  of  the  present  day  can  not  afford  to 
ignore.  The  experiments  already  made  in  this  conntry 
show  that  this  method  of  preserving  green  crops  must, 
it  niay  be  in  an  Americanized  form,  be  adopted  as  a  part 
of  our  system  of  agriculture.  The  farmer  who  looks  for 
information  on  this  subject  finds  it  scattered  through 
the  various  agricultural  journals,  or  in  works  which  are 
ostensibly  upon  Ensilage,  but  often  largely  devoted  to 
advertising  other  matters. 

To  bring  together  the  facts  concerning  Ensilage  that 
are  really  important  to  the  farmer,  scattered  through  the 
journals  and  elsewhere,  and  to  present  them  in  a  com- 
pact form,  divested  of  all  irrelevant  matter,  is  the  object 
of  the  present  work,  which  claims  only  to  be  a  com- 
pilation. In  the  earlier  chapters  the  leading  points  are 
presented,  and  these  are  illustrated  by  such  accounts  of 
individual  experience  as  seem  most  appropriate. 

In  a  compilation  like  the  present,  any  omission  to 
give  credit  must  be  regarded  as  accidental  rather  than 
intentional. 

That  this  little  work  may  be  of  aid  to  those  seeking 
information  on  the  subject  of  Ensilage  is  the  wish  of 

The  Editoe. 


(6) 


X 


INTEODUCTION. 


Within  a  very  few  years  the  term  ''Ensilage"  has  ap- 
peared in  our  agricultural  journals,  meaning  the  preserv- 
ing of  green  fodder  by  placing  it  in  Silos.  In  an  intro- 
duction to  a  work  on  Silos  and  Ensilage,  it  is  well  to 
define  the  meaning  of  these  terms.  European  writers 
all  give  the  word  "Silo"  as  derived  from  the  Spanish. 
It  means  any  underground  place  for  preserving  grain, 
roots,  or  other  farm  products.  In  American  usage  the 
term  "  Ensilage  "  means  the  preservation  of  green  fodder, 
especially  corn  fodder  in  Silos.  The  term  of  M.  Goffart, 
^'Ensilage  de  Mais,"  has  been  abbreviated  in  this  country 
to  Ensilage,  and  is  supposed  to  apply  solely  to  fodder 
corn  thus  jn-eserved,  unless  modified,  by  naming  some  other 
crop,  as  ensilage  of  rye,  etc. 

In  England  the  terms  "Pitting"  and  the  "Potting" 
of  fodder  are  sometimes  used,  to  mean  the  same  as 
ensilage. 

Ensilage  is  used,  not  only  to  indicate  the  process  of 
preserving  fodder,  but  also  as  a  noun,  and  applied  by  our 
writers  to  the  fodder  that  is  thus  preserved. 

The  process  of  ensilage  consists  in  packing  green  corn 
fodder,  or  any  other  succulent  fodder,  in  close  pits  or 
receptacles,  called  Silos.  It  is  essential  that  the  silos  be 
perfectly  air-tight.  They  may  be  built  in  either  of  the 
methods  indicated  in  this  work.  They  may  be  entirely 
above  the  ground,  partly  below  the  surface,  or  altogether 
undergi'ound,  in  the  form  of  a  well  or  pit ;  the  impor- 
tant point  being  to  have  a  thoroughly  air-tight  receptacle. 

This  method,  which  has  come  into  prominence  through 
the  experiments  of  M.  Goffart,  of  Burtin,  France,  has 


/)¥ 


8  SILOS  AND   ENSILAGE. 

long  been  in  use  in  other  countries  and  for  other  materi- 
als. Some  twenty  years  ago  the  '  'American  Agriculturist " 
gave  an  account  of  a  method  of  preserving  clover  in  Ger- 
many. In  October,  1873,  that  journal  pubHshed  an  ac- 
count, by  a  Hungarian  correspondent,  of  the  method  of 
storing  fodder  com  in  pits  as  practised  in  Hungary. 

In  August,  1874,  was  an  account,  from  the  same  corre- 
spondent, of  the  method  of  storing  beets,  and  other  roots, 
cut  and  mixed  with  chaff,  as  followed  in  Hungary. 

In  April,  1875,  pages  139-40,  there  was  described  and 
illustrated  "A  Dairy  Barn"  in  Westchester  County, 
N.  Y.,  in  which  was  a  pit  for  the  storage  of  brewers' 
grains.  Several  thousand  bushels  of  grains  were  here 
kept  in  good  condition  for  months,  simply  by  excluding 
the  air. 

About  this  time  the  presei*vation  of  gi-een  fodder 
attracted  much  attention  in  Belgium  and  France,  and 
several  articles,  by  farmers  and  professors  in  agricultural 
schools,  appeared  in  the  ''Journal  d' Agriculture  Pra- 
tique," Paris,  the  leading  agricultural  journal  of  France, 
giving  methods  and  reporting  general  success.  The  im- 
portant portions  of  these  articles  were  presented  in  a 
condensed  form  in  the  "American  Agriculturist"  for 
June,  1875,  pages  222-223,  with  six  illustrations  showing 
simple  pits  and  extensive  receptacles  for  the  fodder, 
built  above  ground,  with  the   method  of  filling,  etc. 

In  September,  1877,  pages  335-336,  was  described 
"An  American  Silo."  This  gave  two  illustrations  of 
the  pit  attached  to  the  Westcliester  County,  N.  Y., 
bam,  described  in  April,  1875,  with  hints  as  to  the 
utilization  of  such  pits  for  the  storing  of  corn  fodder. 

In  1877,  M.  Auguste  Goffart,  an  eminent  French  agii- 
culturist,  published  at  Paris  a  work  on  "Ensilage." 
This  was  translated  by  J.  B.  Brown,  of  New  York,  and 
published  in  1879.  Besides  Goffart's  original  work,  this 
has  an  appendix  giving  several  other  articles  and  notes 


INTRODUCTION.  y 

by  that  author  and  several  of  his  countrymen,  the  expe- 
rience of  Francis  Morris,  of  Maryland,  extracts  from  the 
''American  Agriculturist,"  besides  a  note  giving  "Con- 
clusions of  the  Translator,"  in  which  he  says:  "The 
first  notice  of  this  matter  in  this  country  seems  to  have 
been  made  in  the  'American  Agriculturist'  of  June, 
1875."  As  shown  above,  Mr.  Brown  was  not  exactly 
right  as  to  the  date,  though  quite  correct  as  to  the  fact. 
Prof,  M.  Miles,  then  of  the  Illinois  Industrial  Uni- 
versity, in  1875  experimented  in  the  preservation  of 
broom-corn  seed.  He  stored  it  in  pits.  Just  as  turnips  or 
other  roots  are  stored,  putting  on  a  layer  of  straw,  and 
covering  this  with  some  eight  to  twelve  inches  of  earth. 
Pits  put  up  in  September  were  opened  the  following 
March,  and  were  found  in  satisfactory  condition  ;  where 
the  covering  was  only  eight  inches  deep,  theoutor  portion 
was  dry  and  moulded,  forming  a  compact  crust  a  few 
inches  thick,  but  the  interior  was  fresh  and  bright,  while 
a  covering  of  twelve  inches  of  earth  preserved  it  better. 
A  sample  of  this  ensilaged  seed,  sent  to  us  at  the  time, 
was  perfectly  sweet,  and  had  much  the  odor  of  brewers' 
grains.  AVhat  may  be  the  feeding  value  of  these  imma- 
ture seeds  of  Broom  Corn  is  not  determined  ;  cattle  ate 
them  readily,  and  there  would  appear  to  be  no  difficulty 
in  keeping  them  perfectly  well,  should  it  be  desirable. 


HOW  IS  THE   FODDER  PRESERVED? 

It  is  well  known  that  a  mass  of  green  fodder,  if  loosely 
stacked  up,  will  soon  ferment,  heat,  and  pass  into  decay. 
In  the  silo,  the  fodder  is  closely  packed,  and  in  an  air- 
tight receptacle,  and  these  conditions,  instead  of  encour- 
aging decay,  prevent  it,  and  favor  the  preservation  of  the 
mass.  Several  chapters  have  been  written  on  "  The 
Chemistry  of  the  Silo,"  but  to  understand  them  requires 


10  SILOS    AND    E^'SILAGE. 

a  familiarity  with  chemistry  not  possessed  by  tlie  average 
farmer  and  general  reader. 

Every  farmer  knows  that  manure,  another  form  of 
vegetable  matter,  if  allowed  free  access  of  air,  will  fer- 
ment, heat,  and  decay.  He  also  knows  that  manure,  if 
kept  under  cattle  or  sheep,  and  daily  trodden  down 
through  the  winter,  will  come  out  in  the  spring  quite 
unchanged.  These  are  familiar  illustrations  of  the  well- 
known  fact  that  the  presence  of  air  is  necessary  to  decay, 
and  that  the  complete  exclusion  of  air  tends  to  the  pres- 
ervation of  perishable  substances. 

In  the  fodder  corn  we  have  a  mass  of  succulent  stems 
and  foliage  in  which  preparation  has  been  made  for  the 
production  of  grain.  These  are  filled  with  juices  hold- 
ing in  solution  the  material  that  would  soon  be  deposited 
in  the  grain  as  starch,  etc.,  but  now  largely  in  the  form 
of  sugar.  When  the  corn  plant  is  cut  and  packed  in 
the  silo,  fermentation,  the  first  step  in  decay,  at  once 
begins.  By  th )  action  of  the  oxygen  of  the  air  on  the 
sugar  and  other  contents  of  the  stalks,  etc.,  various 
changes  take  place,  one  of  which  is  to  produce  Carbonic 
Acid.  This  acid  is  a  gas,  in  which  a  candle  can  not  burn 
or  any  animal  live,  and  in  which  no  further  fermentation 
can  occur.  If  the  silo  is  air-tight,  the  very  first  steps  in 
the  fermentation  of  its  contents  produce  a  gas  that  acts 
as  a  preservative  and  prevents  further  change.  The 
more  compact  the  fodder  corn,  the  less  air  will  there  be 
among  it,  and  the  sooner  Avill  the  fermentation  stop. 

The  fermentation  not  only  acts  upon  and  changes  the 
composition  of  the  air  within  the  silo,  but  the  fodder 
itself  is  acted  upon  and  changed. 

Sugar,  when  present  in  the  juices  of  the  corn,  is  at 
first  converted  into  alcohol ;  and  if  fermentation  contin- 
ues far  enough,  acetic  acid,  or  vinegar,  will  be  formed 
from  the  alcohol  thus  produced. 

If  the  silo  is  properly  air-tight,  and  its  contents  cut 


THE   PROGRESS   OF  ENSILAGE.  11 

fine  and  well  packed  and  carefully  covered,  there  cannot 
be  sufficient  air  present  to  allow  fermentation  to  go  on  to 
an  injurious  extent. 

The  fact  that  injury  may  occur  to  the  contents  of  the 
silo  from  undue  exposure  to  the  air,  should  be  kept  in 
mind  at  every  step  in  filling  the  silo  and  in  feeding  its 
contents. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  ENSILAGE. 

Since  this  work  first  appeared,  ensilage  has  passed  the 
experimental  stage,  and  has  been  adopted  by  so  many 
farmers  that  it  may  be  considered  as  an  established 
method  among  many  who  devote  themselves  to  dairy- 
ing. The  number  of  silos  in  the  United  States  in  1880 
is  said  to  have  been  only  six,  while  it  is  estimated 
that  there  are  now  about  two  thousand.  In  England 
there  were  in  1880  only  four  silos,  while  now,  Mr.  M.  J. 
Sutton,  in  his  recent  admirable  work  on  "Permanent 
and  Temporary  Pastures,"  estimates  that  there  are  be- 
tween eleven  and  twelve  hundred.  In  England,  the  silo 
will  come  into  competition  with  ordinary  hay-making, 
allowing  the  farmer  to  secure  his  crops  of  grass  and 
clover  in  veiy  wet  seasons  more  promptly  and  safely  than 
he  could  as  hay.  In  this  country,  on  the  other  hand, 
ensilage  will  be  mainly  directed  to  the  preservation  of 
fodder  com,  a  crop  of  admitted  value,  but  one  which  is 
on  all  liands  regarded  as  very  difficult  to  cure.  In  the 
Southern  States,  the  silo  will  allow  the  farmer  to  pre- 
serve one  of  his  most  important  crops,  the  Southern  Cow- 
pea.     This,  which  is  regarded  as  most  valuable  as  hay. 


12  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

is  difficult  to  cure,  as  the  large  leaves  are  shaken  off  in 
the  process,  but  packed  in  the  silo,  they  would  yield 
most  valuable  cattle  food,  probably  equal  in  value  to 
ensiloed  clover. 

An  important  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  silo 
is  the  report  of  "Experiments  on  Ensilage,  conducted  at 
Eothamsted,  season  1884-5,  by  Sir  J.  B.  Lawes,  LL.  D., 
R  E.  S.,  and  J.  H.  Gilbert,  LL.  D.,  F.  E.  S."  Eotham- 
sted as  an  experimental  station  has  a  world-wide  re])uta- 
tion,  and  the  names  of  Lawes  and  Gilbert  attached  to 
any  statement  impart  perfect  confidence  in  its  accurracy. 
Possessing  ample  means,  their  experiments  are  conducted 
on  a  scale  large  enough  to  be  regarded  as  practical,  and 
having  no  other  object  than  to  arrive  at  the  real  facts  of 
the  case,  their  conclusions  are  accepted  as  final.  It 
would  be  well  if  some  of  those  who  in  this  country  think 
they  are  making  "experiments,"  but  are  only  guessing, 
could  observe  the  accuracy  and  precision  with  Avhich 
everything  is  weighed  and  measured  at  Eothamsted.  This 
careful  summing  up  of  the  experiments  on  ensilage  will 
not  be  likely  to  please  the  enthusiastic  advocates  of  that 
method.  Their  conclusions  from  their  experiments  are 
presented  in  twenty-two  numbered  paragraphs,  the  last 
four  of  which  are  as  follows  : 

"  19. — There  can  be  no  doubt  that  good  food  may  be 
preserved  in  a  favorable  state  for  future  use  by  being 
properly  ensilaged.  But  the  results  obtained  at  Eotham- 
sted do  not  favor  the  idea  that  produce  which  is  itself 
not  good  food,  can  be  made  good  food  by  being  ensilaged. 

"  20. — Good  ensilage,  given  in  such  amount  as  to  sup- 
ply the  same  quantity  of  dry  substances  as  would  be 
given  in  chaff  or  roots,  is  no  doubt  a  very  good  food  for 
fattening  oxen. 

"21. — Good  ensilage,  given  in  less  proportion  and  in 
conjunction  with  roots,  with  the  ordinary  dry  foods  in 
addition,  is  no  doubt  a  very  good  food  for  milking  cows. 


RAISING    FODDER   CORN    FOR   ENSILAGE.  13 

'<  22. — In  conclusion,  it  is  hoped  that  the  details  which 
have  been  given  of  the  first  year's  experiments  on  en- 
silage at  Rothamsted  will  afford  some  useful  basis  for  the 
consideration  of  those  who  may  be  deliberating  whether 
or  not  to  adopt  the  system." 


CHAPTER   II. 
RAISING  FODDER   CORN   FOR   ENSILAGE. 

To  one  about  to  undertake  the  preservation  of  fodder 
corn  by  ensilage,  the  important  points  are  :  growing  the 
crop,  building  the  silo,  cutting  and  storing  the  fodder, 
and  the  methods  of  feeding.  All  preparation  in  the  way 
of  raising  the  crop  must  have  been  done  some  months 
earlier  than  the  date  of  the  publication  of  this  work  ; 
still,  for  the  sake  of  completeness,  we  give  a  brief 
chapter  on  raising  the  crop. 

If,  as  now  seems  probable,  the  method  of  ensilage  shall 
be  generally  adopted  and  incorporated  in  our  system  of 
agriculture,  Ave  shall  soon  be  sujiplied  with  such  imple- 
ments as  Avill  facilitate  all  the  work  relating  to  it. 

The  readiness  with  which  inventors  and  manufacturers 
have  met  the  demand  for  cutting  implements,  is  an  indi- 
cation of  what  may  be  expected  in  other  steps  of  the  pro- 
cess, so  soon  as  the  needs  are  made  known.  Thus  far, 
the  experiments  in  cultivation  and  harvesting  have  heen 
made  with  the  implements  and  machines  already  in  use 
on  the  farm.  Not  only  may  we  look  for  new  facilities  in 
the  mechanical  appliances,  but  for  improvements  in  the 
material,  the  kinds  of  corn  best  suited  to  the  purpose. 


14  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

One  about  to  experiment  with  ensilage  is  met  at  the 
outset  by  the  question,  "  AVhat  kind  of  corn  shall  I  sow  ?  " 
Here  European  experience  is  of  no  value  as  a  guide,  as 
the  varieties  recommended  there  are  not  known  here,  and 
we  no  doubt  already  have  kinds  of  corn  better  suited  to 
the  purpose  than  any  known  in  Europe. 

In  the  majority  of  the  experiments  in  this  country, 
thus  far,  the  variety  sown  has  been  the  Southern  White, 
or  "Horse-tooth"  Corn.  A  recent  variety,  "  Blunt's 
Prolific,"  has  been  highly  commended,  and  a  special  kind 
called  "Mammoth  Ensilage  Corn"  is  advertised. 

The  greatest  possible  weight  to  the  acre  of  quickly- 
grown  and  succulent  herbage  is  required.  When  the 
plant  has  completed  its  growth,  and  commences  to  pre- 
pare for  a  crop  of  seed,  it  then  becomes  woody  ;  the  nu- 
tritive material  in  the  stalk  and  leaves  is  diverted  to  the 
grain,  and  there  deposited  in  a  different  form. 

The  production  of  varieties  best  suited  for  ensilage 
will  no  doubt  soon  follow,  if  we  have  not  already  such. 
In  January,  1881,  the  "American  Agriculturist  "  figured 
and  described  the  "  Cuzco,"  or  "  Peruvian  Corn,"  which, 
by  its  rapid  and  gigantic  growth  before  showing  either 
tassel  or  ear,  suggests  that  it  may  be  useful  in  establishing 
a  variety  of  maize  for  ensilage,  either  through  acclimation 
by  selection,  or  by  crossing  it  ujDon  other  kinds  of  corn. 

The  cultivation  of  fodder  corn  for  ensilage  is  not  dif- 
ferent from  that  where  the  crop  is  to  be  cured  in  the 
usual  manner.  The  land  being  thoroughly  prepared  and 
highly  manured,  is  laid  out  in  rows,  twenty  to  thirty-six 
inches  apart,  and  the  corn  dropped  four  to  eight  kernels 
to  the  running  foot,  the  distances  dependmg  upon  the 
size  of  the  variety.  The  subsequent  culture  is  the  same 
as  usual.  Several  mention  the  great  utility  of  the  Thomas 
Smoothing  Harrow  in  keeping  the  crop  clean  until  it  is 
eight  to  twelve  inches  high,  or  too  tall  for  this  treat- 
ment.    Some  have  raised  satisfactory  crops  without  the 


LOCATIOX    OF   AXD   BUILDIXG    THE    SILO.  15 

k 

use  of  any  other  implement  or  tillage  than  that  given  by 
this  harrow,  the  corn  soon  smothering  the  weeds. 

The  precise  condition  in  which  the  fodder  should  be 
harvested  is  not  generally  mentioned  by  those  who  have 
given  accounts  of  their'Operations,  the  date  being  usually 
stated  instead.  Some  say  that  they  cut  up  the  fodder 
when  "in  tassel,"  and  others  when  the  ears  were  "partly 
formed."  We  should  naturally  expect  to  find  the  plant 
itself  the  most  nutritious  just  at  flowering  time,  that  is, 
when  it  has  "silked";  how  far  beyond  this  it  may  stand 
with  advantage,  experiments  are  needed  to  determine. 

In  cutting  up  the  corn,  the  sickle  or  corn  knife  is 
generally  preferred  to  a  reaper,  though  we  may  expect  in 
due  time  to  find  tliese  hand  implements  superseded  by 
more  rapid  machines,  especially  devised  for  the  work. 


CHAPTER   III. 

LOCATION   OF   AND    BUILDING    THE   SILO. 

If  one  were  to  lay  out  a  plan  for  buildings  with  reference 
to  feeding  ensilage,  he  would  make  the  silos  the  central 
point  around  which  all  the  rest  would  be  arranged.  But 
our  farms  are  already  planned,  the  barns  already  built, 
hence  the  silos  must  come  in  and  form  a  part  of  an  estab- 
lished order  of  things.  The  silo  is  to  preserve  fodder 
which  is  to  be  fed  at  the  barn,  hence  its  location  must  be 
with  reference  to  the  most  convenient  feeding  of  its  con- 
tents. If,  as  is  often  the  case,  the  barn  has  been  built 
near  a  bank,  then  this  bank  may  be  utilized  for  the  silo, 
placing  this  with  reference  to  the  feeding  floor.  The  large 
silos  of  Whitman  &  Burrell,  at  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  were 


16  SILOS    AXD    ENSILAGE. 

SO  built  that  the  roof  of  the  barn  could  be  extended  to 
cover  the  silos.  In  some  cases  it  may  be  most  convenient 
to  build  the  silo  within  the  barn,  or,  where  a  basement 
has  been  made  for  the  reception  of  manure,  it  may  be 
better  to  convert  the  basement  iirto  silos,  and  dispose  of 
the  manure  elsewhere. 

So  long  as  our  experimenters  are  not  yet  agreed  as  to 
the  best  form  of  the  silo,  some  holding  that  a  deep  and 
narrow  one,  in  the  form  of  a  pit  or  well,  is  better  than  a 
long  and  shallow  one  upon  the  surface,  the  proper  loca- 
tion is  difficult  to  determine.  The  essential  points  to 
be  observed  in  building  a  silo  are  given  in  the  following 
pages,  and  a  consideration  of  these  may  help  in  determin- 
"ing  the  location. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  silo  is  to  be  filled 
and  to  be  emptied.  The  filling  is  accomplished  in  a  few 
days,  while  the  emptying,  by  feeding  out  its  contents, 
may  extend  through  several  months.  Hence  convenience 
in  feeding  the  contents  must,  other  things  being  equal, 
largely  determine  the  location  of  the  silo. 

BUILDING    A    SILO. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  first  accounts  of  ensilage 
were  by  those  who  were  not  obliged  to  regard  expense, 
but,  having  abundant  means,  could  construct  such  silos 
as  seemed  to  be  required.  We  may  add  here,  that  much 
is  yet  to  be  done  in  "Americanizing  "  the  whole  matter, 
and  we  have  no  doubt  that  the  experiments  now  being 
made  will  greatly  simplify,  not  only  the  building  of  the 
silo,  but  every  other  step  in  the  method.  The  wealthy 
dairy  man  or  other  proprietor  may  make  an  investment 
of  a  few  thousands,  if  he  sees  that  it  will  give  a  good 
return  in  the  feeding  of  his  hundred  or  more  cows, 
while  the  farmer  with  five  cows,  who  all  the  more  needs 
the  benefits  that  this  new  method  may  bring,  can  not,  as 


LOCATION   OF   AKD   BUILDING   THE   SILO.  17 

a  general  thing,  afford  the  outlay  of  a  few  hundreds  of 
dollars.  Before  going  into  the  particulars  of  building,  it 
may  be  well  to  consider  what  a  silo  is  expected  to  do, 
whatever  may  be  the  plan.  In  speaking  of  ensilage,  we 
now  have  reference  to  tlie  preservation  of  fodder  corn  by 
the  method  though,  as  will  be  seen,  other  farm  crops 
and  products  may  be  preserved  in  a  similar  manner. 
The  fodder  corn,  cut  small,  is  packed  in  a  receptacle 
which  is  perfectly  tight,  so  that  it  will  not  allow  water  to 
enter  from  without,  or  gases  to  escape  from  within. 
Could  a  glass  jar  be  made  of  suflBcient  size  it  would  be  a 
perfect  silo.  Large  capacity,  with  perfectly  air-tight  and 
water-tight  walls,  being  the  objects  in  view,  the  structure 
will  vary  according  to  the  locality  and  surroundings.  In 
some  places  a  silo  can  be  most  cheaply  built  of  stone  ;  in 
other  places  brick  will  be  found  the  most  available  mate- 
rial. In  other  localities  still,  concrete  will  be  cheaper 
than  either  stone  or  brick,  and  just  as  good.  These, 
stone,  brick,  and  concrete,  are  all  well  understood  build- 
ing materials,  and  where  one  has  the  means  to  allow  him 
to  avail  himself  of  them,  are  no  doubt  the  best.  But 
those  who  can  not  command  either  of  these  should  not 
be  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  ensilage.  There  are  several 
accounts  of  successful  preservation  of  fodder  corn  in  silos 
excavated  in  a  bank  of  heavy  clay  soil,  in  which  the 
fodder  corn  was  packed  directly  against  the  earthern 
walls.  We  do  not  recommend  this  method,  as  there  are 
many  chances  of  failure.  There  are  many  localities 
where  the  soil  is  of  such  a  character  that  cisterns  for 
rain-water  are  built  by  making  an  excavation  of  proper 
size  and  shape,  and  covering  its  interior  with  one  or  more 
coats  of  cement  mortar  directly  upon  its  earthern  walls. 
Wherever  cisterns  of  this  kind  may  be  built,  a  silo  may  be 
made  in  a  similar  manner. 

Another  modification  is  possible  in  wooded  countries, 
where  logr-bams  and  even  log-houses  are  still  built.     A 


18  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

silo  may  be  laid  up  of  logs  as  for  a  log-house,  and  by 
taking  special  pains  with  the  *' chinking  up,"  with  clay, 
both  inside  and  out,  an  air-tight  and  temporarily  useful 
silo  may  be  constructed. 

Silos  have  been  built  by  partitioning  off  a  space  within 
the  barn,  using  two  thicknesses  of  boards,  and  placing  a 
layer  of  tarred  sheathing  paper  between  the  boards.  It 
is  not  likely  that  a  silo  with  wooden  walls  can  last  a  great 
while,  as  a  large  mass  of  fermenting  material  in  direct 
contact  with  the  boards  will  soon  cause  them  to  decay. 

Another  kind  of  silo  is  possible  in  lumber  districts, 
where  slabs  are  cheap.  A  frame  may  be  made  with  slabs 
set  up  about  a  foot  apart,  to  build  a  hollow  wall,  which 
is  to  be  filled  in  with  stiff,  clayey  soil,  to  be  put  in  grad- 
ually and  rammed  down  hard.  By  either  of  these,  and 
other  make-shifts,  which  are,  of  course,  only  offered  as 
suggestions,  those  who  can  do  no  better  may  secure  the 
benefits  of  ensilage,  as  well  as  those  who  can  erect  more 
permanent  and  more  costly  silos. 

A  detached  silo  must  be  provided  with  a  roof.  In 
some  cases  it  may  be  so  placed  that  the  roof  of  the  barn 
can  be  continued  to  extend  over  the  silo,  and  thus  mate- 
rially lessen  the  cost  of  building. 

In  building  a  silo,  whether  of  brick,  stone,  concrete,  or 
other  material,  drainage  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  for  to  be 
successful  the  silo  must  be  not  only  air-tight  but  water- 
tight. In  building  with  brick  or  stone,  the  services  of  a 
mason  will  usually  be  required.  If  the  silo  is  of  con- 
crete, there  is  nothing  in  its  structure  that  can  not  be 
managed  by  a  person  of  ordinary  tact  and  ingenuity. 
Probably  the  larger  number  of  silos  built  in  this  country 
will  be  of  concrete,  and,  in  view  of  the  importance  of 
the  subject,  we  give  a  separate  chapter  on  building  con- 
crete walls. 


LOCATIOi^   OF   AKD   BUILDIKG   THE   SILO.  19 

THE   SIZE   OF  THE   SILO 

Of  course  will  be  determined  by  the  number  of  animals. 
The  description  of  Whitman  &  Burrell's,  and  other  large 
silos  will  give  some  idea  of  the  larger  structures.  It  is 
estimated  that  one  cow  requires  for  a  year  five  hundred 
and  fifty  cubic  feet  of  ensilaged  fodder,  and  if  the  cows 
are  pastured  for  half  the  year,  then  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  cubic  feet  will  be  sufficient.  Mr.  Bailey  es- 
timates that  to  keep  two  cows  for  a  year,  a  silo  ten  feet 
wide,  long  and  deep  will  hold  sufficient.  A  silo  twelve 
feet  wide,  thirty  feet  long,  and  twelve  feet  deep,  he  esti- 
mates will  hold  about  eighty-seven  tons,  enough  to  win- 
ter twelve  to  fifteen  cows.  Where  stone  is  plenty,  he 
thinks  that  a  silo  of  this  size  can  be  built  at  a  cost,  be- 
sides the  labor,  of  about  fifty  dollars.  Silos  have  been 
made  by  digging  a  pit,  putting  in  the  fodder  as  in  pitting 
roots,  piling  it  as  high  as  practicable,  and  then  covering 
with  earth.  The  difficulty  in  this  case  is,  that  in  open- 
ing, the  earth  mixes  with  the  fodder ;  besides  there  is  a 
trouble  in  keeping  the  covering  tight  as  the  contents  set- 
tle ;  this  method  might  answer  where  straw  is  plenty,  and 
a  sufficient  covering  of  that  can  be  placed  over  the  fodder 
before  putting  on  the  earth. 


30  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

CHAPTER   IV. 
CUTTING  AND  STORING  THE  FODDER. 

While  some  have  succeeded  in  preserving  the  fodder 
corn  in  pits  without  first  cutting,  it  is  generally  conceded 
that  it  should  be  cut  before  storing.  Already  several  ma- 
chines, to  be  driven  by  horse  or  steam-power,  have  been 
invented  and  are  manufactured  expressly  for  the  jDurpose 
of  cutting  fodder  corn  for  ensilage. 

THE  PROPER  SIZE  TO  CUT  THE  FODDER. 

The  fodder  has  been  cut  by  different  experimenters  in 
pieces  varying  from  one  inch  down  to  one-fourth  of  an 
inch,  the  majority  regarding  three-eighths  of  an  inch  as 
the  most  desirable  size.  One  object  in  cutting  fine  is  to 
insure  the  most  compact  storage  possible  and  consequent 
exclusion  of  air.  The  packing  away  should  follow  im- 
mediately upon  the  cutting,  in  order  that  the  juices  of  the 
plant  may  not  evaporate  and  be  replaced  by  air.  For  the 
same  reason,  there  should  be  the  least  possible  delay 
between  the  field  and  the  machine  that  is  to  cut  it  for 
the  silo.  As  Dr.  Bailey  properly  suggests,  "  tearing  or 
shredding  the  stalks  would  be  much  better  than  cutting," 
and  leads  us  to  hope  that  a  machine  for  this  purpose  may 
be  forthcoming  in  due  time.  But  at  present  the  corn 
must  be  cut,  and  for  this  there  is  no  lack  of  suitable 
appliances. 

That  the  size  of  the  pieces  is  of  importance  in  other 
respects  than  as  regards  the  preservation  of  the  fodder, 
is  shown  by  a  case  that  recently  came  to  our  knowledge. 
A  friend  informed  us  that  one  of  his  neighbors,  who  had 
succeeded  admirably  in  preserving  the  fodder,  found  that 


CUTTING   AND   STORING   THE    FODDER.  21 

after  his  cows  had  fed  upon  it  for  a  while  with  evident 
relish,  they  all  at  once  seemed  reluctant  to  eat  it.  An 
examination  showed  that  the  gums  of  the  cows  were 
badly  cut  and  inflamed  to  such  a  degree  that  they  were 
unable  to  chew  the  fudder.  This  trouble  was  found  to 
be  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  act  of  chewing,  the  short 
pieces  of  fodder  would  generally  be  bitten  endwise,  and 
the  outer  portions  of  the  corn,  which  at  the  base  of  the 
stalk  might  get  very  hard,  being  presented  endwise  to  the 
teeth,  were  so  sharp  as  to  lacerate  the  gums  and  the  tender 
parts  of  the  mouth.  This  gentleman  proposed  to  over- 
come the  difficulty  by  cutting  the  fodder  longer ;  if  the 
pieces  were  longer  than  broad,  the  animal  would  take 
hold  of  them  in  the  usual  way  and  bite  against  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  stalks  rather  than  against  the  ends. 
It  IS  not  probable  that  a  difficulty  of  this  kind  could  occur 
unless  the  base  of  the  stalks  had  become  too  hard  and 
firm  for  feeding  in  any  form,  and  as  many  have  fed  the 
short-cut  fodder  without  any  trouble  of  this  kind,  it  is 
a  warning  against  letting  the  fodder  get  too  old,  rather 
than  a  caution  not  to  cut  it  too  fine. 

FILLING   THE   SILO. 

Experimenters  generally  agree  that  about  two  feet  in 
depth  daily  is  better  than  a  more  rapid  filling  of  the  silo 
with  the  cut  fodder.  The  form  of  the  silo  will  govern 
the  rapidity  of  filling  somewhat :  if  narrow  and  deep,  it 
may  be  necessary  to  fill  in  a  greater  depth  daily. 

The  importance  of  thoroughly  compacting  the  fodder 
is  strongly  enforced  by  all  who  have  had  any  experience. 
The  fodder  should  be  spread  evenly,  mixing  leaves  and 
stalks  as  thoroughly  as  possible,  and  as  the  Avork  proceeds 
be  trodden  down  very  closely  and  firmly.  AVhere  the  silo 
is  of  a  size  to  allow  it,  horses  or  mules  have  been  intro- 
duced to  do  the  trampling.     The  usual  custom  is  to  keep 


22  SILOS    AXD    ENSILAGE. 

one  or  two  men  in  the  silo  to  tramp  down  the  fodder  as 
fast  as  it  comes  from  the  cutter.  If  during  the  night  the 
surface  of  the  fodder  in  the  silo  has  dried  appreciably,  it 
should,  upon  resuming  the  filling  tlie  next  day,  be  wetted 
sufficiently  to  restore  the  original  moisture  ;  this  may  be 
most  conveniently  done  by  the  use  of  garden  watering  pots. 

COVERING   THE   SILO. 

When  the  silo  is  filled,  six  or  eight  inches  of  straw  are 
laid  over  the  top  of  the  fodder,  and  upon  this  a  covering 
of  two-inch  plank,  cut  so  short  that  they  cannot  bind 
against  the  walls,  as  the  contents  settle.  The  plank  cover 
is  then  heavily  weighted  with  whatever  material  may  be 
most  available.  Where  large  stones  are  at  hand,  these  may 
be  used  ;  logs  will  answer ;  boxes  filled  with  gravel  or  with 
earth,  and  even  bags  of  grain  have  been  used.  Much  of 
the  success  of  the  process  depends  upon  having  sufficient 
pressure.  The  weighting  material  must  be  of  a  kind  that 
will  allow  of  its  removal  in  part  without  disturbing  the 
rest. 

SALT  AND   STRAW. 

In  the  early  experiments,  salt  was  scattered  among  the 
fodder,  but  this  is  now  abandoned,  as  it  is  not  necessary 
to  the  preservation  of  the  contents  of  the  silo. 

In  some  cases  cut  straw  has  been  mixed  with  the  fod- 
der in  filling  the  silo,  some  claiming  that  it  is  useful  in 
absorbing  superabundant  moisture.  On  grain  farms, 
where  straw  is  abundant,  it  would  be  desirable  to  use  a 
portion  of  it  in  this  manner,  but  experiments  are  needed 
to  show  to  Avhat  extent  such  a  mixture  may  be  made 
without  injury  to  the  corn  fodder,  by  preventing  that 
from  being  sufficiently  compacted.  One  writer  claims 
that  the  feeding  value  of  straw  thus  mixed  with  fodder 
corn  in  the  silo  is  greatly  increased.     This  is  one  of  the 


CONCEETE   SILOS.  33 

unsettled  points  in  ensilage,  and  one  worthy  of  careful 
investigation. 

In  some  instances,  where  the  quantity  of  fodder  corn 
was  not  sufficient  to  fill  the  silo,  hay,  especially  rowen, 
has  been  used  to  complete  the  filling.  This  was  put  in 
as  soon  as  cut,  and  when  the  silo  Avas  opened  was  found 
to  be  in  most  excellent  condition. 


CHAPTER   V. 
CONCRETE    SILOS 

One  of  the  best  methods  of  laying  concrete  is  by  means 
of  planks  to  form  the  mold  to  hold  the  mortar,  the 
planks  being  held  in  place  by  posts  set  at  the  angles  of 
the  wall,  and  at  other  points  if  necessary,  and  by  clamps, 
both  the  planks  and  the  clamps  being  held  in  place  by 
wedges,  all  of  which  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  en- 
gravings. Figure  1  represents  the  planks  in  position, 
and  the  posts  set,  held  together  at  their  tops  by  strips 
nailed  upon  them,  while  at  the  ground  they  should  be 
held  in  position  by  stakes  and  braces.  Figure  3  is  a 
diagram  showing  a  section  or  ground  plan  of  the  same 
things  ;  a,  h,  in  both  figure  1  and  figure  2,  are  iron 
clamps  holding  the  middle  of  the  planks  in  position  in 
case  they  are  likely  to  spread  apart.  Figure  3  is  a  rep- 
resentation of  the  walls  while  in  process  of  erection. 

Planks,  planed  on  the  side  towards  the  walls,  are  pro- 
vided sufficient  for  the  entire  circuit  of  the  building,  and 
when  in  position  the  space  between  them  is  filled  with 
the  mortar.  When  the  mortar  sets,  which,  with  a  pro- 
portion of  cement  it  will  do  very  soon,  then  the  planks 


24 


SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 


are  raised  and  fixed  in  position  by  driving  wedges  between 
the  posts  and  the  wall,  as  shown  in  figures  4  and  5,  in 
which  a,  a,  are  the  wedges ;  b,  b,  the  planks  ;  c,  a  clamp 


Fig.  1. — THE   ARRANGEMENT   OF   THE   POSTS. 

holding  the  planks  together,  and  wedged  on  one  side,  and 
d,  d,  the  posts.  The  posts  will  usually  need  to  be  braced 
well  to  prevent  their  springing  when  the  wedges  are 
driven  tight  enough  to  support  the  planks. 

Figure  -i  shows  a  section  of  the  wall  and  one  post  with 


Fig.  a. — AKBANGBMENT  OF  THE  PLANKS. 

the  wedges,  as  looked  down  upon,  and  figure  5  is  a  per- 
pendicular cross-section  of  the  same,  the  letters  refer  to 


CONCKETE   SILOS. 


25 


the  same  parts  in  both  engravings.  The  door  frames  are 
introduced  in  their  places  and  held  by  braces  until  the 
walls  rise  around  them. 

Materials  Used. — It  is  best,  unless  indeed  some 
one  in  the  neighborhood  has  had  experience,  to  test  be- 
forehand the  proportions  of  sand,  gravel,  and  lime,  or 


Fig.  3.— METHOD  OF  lATTNG  THE  CONCRETE, 


cement,  which  are  best  suited  to  the  proposed  work. 
There  is  so  much  difference  in  the  various  kinds  of  lime 
that  proportions  can  only  be  given  approximately. 

Roughly  the  proportions  may  be  stated  as  one  part  lime 
to  seven  parts  of  other  materials,  half  of  which  should  be 
clean  washed  sand.  When  sufficient  materials  are  accu- 
mulated upon  the  mixing  board,  they  are  first  mixed  dry 
by  repeated  shoveling,  then  the  lime,  slaked  to  a  creamy 
consistency,  is  added,  and  well  mixed  through  the  whole, 
adding  more  water  if  necessary.  The  addition  of  one- 
fourth  cement,  the  lime  being  reduced  to  three-fourths 
of  one  part,  and  the  cement  being  added  after  the  mortar 
3 


26  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

is  mixed,  makes  a  much  quicker  setting  and  harder  con- 
crete. When  all  cement  and  no  lime  is  used,  but  a  small 
quantity  can  be  mixed  at  a  time,  for  it  sets  so  quickly 
that  it  could  not  be  placed  in  position  before  it  became 
solid.  The  proportions  for  a  smooth,  solid  concrete  are  : 
one  part  Portland  cement  to  five  parts  sharp  sand.     If 


Figs.  4  and.  5. —RAISING  the  planks. 

mixed  rather  liquid,  one-third  or  more,  often  nearly  or 
quite  two-thirds,  of  the  wall  as  completed,  may  consist 
of  gravel  and  coarse  broken  stones,  put  in  while  the 
cement  is  being  placed  in  the  molds  forming  the  walls. 

WHITMAN   &    BURRELL   ON    CONCRETE   SILOS. 


These  gentlemen,  in  their  paper  on  silos,  given  else- 
where, append  the  following  directions  for  construct- 
ing a  silo  of  concrete :  First,  having  excavated  for  the 
silo,  dig  a  trench  all  around  the  bottom  and  fill  in 
with  cobble  stones,  and  from  one  corner  lead  a  drain, 
if  possible,  so  as  to  carry  off  all  water.  The  trench 
under  the  i)roposcd  walls  of  the  silo  behig  filled  with 


CONCRETE  SILOS.  27 

cobble  stones,  place  standards  of  scantling  long  enough 
to  extend  twelve  inches  higher  than  the  top  of  the  wall 
when  it  is  finished.  Place  these  standards  on  each  side 
of  the  proposed  wall,  and  if  you  desire  the  wall  to  be 
twenty  inches  thick,  then  place  the  standards  twenty- 
three  niches  apart,  and  place  a  pair  of  standards  every 
five  or  six  feet  around  the  entire  foundation.  Be  par- 
ticular to  have  these  standards  exactly  plumb  and  exactly 
in  line.  Fasten  the  bottoms  of  the  standards  firmly  in 
the  ground,  or  by  nailing  a  strip  of  wood  across  at  the 
bottom  of  the  standards,  and  a  little  below  where  the 
floor  of  the  silo  will  be.  Fasten  the  tops  of  the  stand- 
ards by  a  heavy  cross-piece,  securely  nailed,  and  fasten 
the  pairs  of  standards  in  their  plumb  j)osition  by  shores 
reaching  the  bank  outside.  Now  take  plank,  one  and  a 
half  inch  thick  and  fourteen  inches  wide,  and  place  them 
edgeways  inside  the  standards,  twenty  inches  apart,  thus 
forming  a  box  fourteen  inches  deep,  and  running  all 
along  and  around  the  entire  foundation  of  the  proposed 
wall.  Fill  this  box  with  alternate  layers  of  cobble  stone, 
or  any  rough  stone,  etc.,  and  mortar  or  concrete.  First, 
a  layer  of  concrete  mortar,  and  then  a  layer  of  stone, 
not  allowing  the  stones  to  come  quite  out  to  the  boxing 
plank,  but  having  concrete  over  the  edges,  and  the  con- 
crete must  be  tamped  down  solid.  Prepare  the  concrete 
as  follows :  Take  one  part  of  good  cement,  Portland  is 
the  best  probably,  and  mix  with  this  four  parts  of  sand, 
and  mix  the  cement  thoroughly  with  the  sand  while  dry, 
and  then  mix  four  parts  of  clear  gravel ;  make  into  a 
thin  mortar,  and  use  at  once.  Put  into  the  box  an  inch 
or  two  of  this  mortar,  and  then  bed  in  cobble  stones  ; 
then  fill  in  with  mortar,  again  covering  the  stones,  and 
again  put  in  a  layer  of  stone.  When  the  box  is  filled 
and  the  mortar  "set,"  so  that  the  wall  is  firm,  then  raise 
the  box  one  foot,  leaving  two  inches  lap  of  plank  on  the 
wall  below,  and  go  around  again,  raising  the  wall  one  foot 


28  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

each  day  cTcry  second  day,  according  to  amount  of  labor 
at  hand.  If  one-half  the  bulk  of  fine-slaked  quick- 
lime is  added  to  the  water-lime,  it  will  improve  it,  and 
costs  but  little.  If  Rosendale  or  Akron  cement  is  used, 
instead  of  Portland,  then  the  i)roportious  should  be  as 
follows  :  One  barrel  of  good  live  cement,  three  barrels  of 
good  sand,  three  -  barrels  of  good  clean  gravel.  If  no 
gravel  is  obtainable,  then  use  five  barrels  of  sand  to  one 
of  cement,  and  bed  in  all  the  cobble  stones  possible. 
Stone  with  rough  edges  are  better  than  smooth,  as  they 
bind  the  wall  more  thoroughly,  but  any  flat  stones  found 
about  fields  will  do  as  well.  A  layer  of  loose  cobble 
stones  should  be  placed  against  the  outside  of  the  wall 
before  the  earth  is  brought  against  it,  so  as  to  have  an 
air  space  and  a  free  passage  for  water. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

EUEOPEAN  EXPERIMENTS  IN  ENSILAGE. 

The  "  American  Agriculturist  "  for  June,  1875,  gave, 
so  far  as  we  are  aware,  the  first  full  account  of  the  Euro- 
pean methods  of  ensilage ;  the  article  is  here  reproduced 
as  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  subject,  and  as  giving  the 
methods  followed  in  Europe  at  that  time.  .  .  .  The 
recent  experiments  in  France  and  Germany  in  the  pres- 
ervation and  feeding  of  fodder  of  various  kinds  are  of 
great  value  to  our  farmers.  Their  object  is  to  economize 
the  use  of  cattle  food.  In  almost  every  department  of 
industry  it  is  the  savings  in  labor  and  material  that  are 
cheapening  the  cost  of  production,  and  at  the  same  time 
increasing  the  profits  of  the  producers.     In  every  opera- 


EUROPEAN   EXPERIMEJ^TS   IN   ENSILAGE.  29 

tion  in  agriculture  there  is  a  vast  scope  for  saving  in  both 
labor  and  materials.  Our  method  of  feeding  stock  is  very 
wasteful ;  the  greater  part  of  the  fodder  fed  every  winter 
is  expended  in  merely  keeping  the  cattle  alive.  A  loss  of 
weight  or  condition  in  all  kinds  of  stock  equal  to  from 
ten  to  sixty  per  cent  is  suffered  every  winter.  There  is 
no  necessity  for  this ;  stock  may  be  kept  increasing  in 
weight  during  the  winter,  if  the  fodder  is  of  the  right 
kind  and  the  stock  is  properly  housed  and  protected. 
The  feeding  of  poor,  unpalatable  fodder  is  the  chief 
cause  of  this  loss.  The  appetite  needs  to  be  stimulated 
at  the  season  when  the  greatest  draft  is  made  upon  the 
physical  condition  of  the  ani- 
mal ;  and  to  meet  this  need 
there  must  not  only  be  palata- 
ble or  enticing  food,  but  there 
must  be  plenty  of  it.  Corn 
fodder  is  largely  depended  upon 
as  food  for  stock  over  a  great 
extent  of  country,  and  its  use 
might  be  well  nigh  universal, 
as  no  forage  plant  is  so  easily 
grown  as  corn.  Could  it  be  pre-  ^i^-  ^-  "''  before  covering. 
served  fresh  and  green  for  six  months  or  more,  instead  of 
curing  it  and  using  it  dry,  its  value  would  be  greatly  in- 
creased. That  it  may  be  so  joreserved  has  been  shown  by 
experiment,  and  the  process  is  claimed  to  be  easy  and 
very  profitable.  Of  late  years  a  great  number  of  French, 
Belgian,  and  German  farmers  have  adopted  the  plan,  and 
some  extensive  stock-feeders  have  used  it  largely,  with 
the  most  favorable  results.  Several  communications  by 
prominent  farmers  and  professors  of  agriculture  in  farm 
schools  have  been  made  to  the  ''Journal  of  Practical 
Agriculture,"  of  Paris,  from  which  the  following  facts 
have  been  condensed,  and,  by  the  aid  of  the  illustrations, 
the  methods  in  use  may  be  learned.     In  figures  6,  7,  and 


30 


SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 


8  are  shown  tlie  pits,  or  silos,  as  they  are  filled  with  the 
cut  corn  fodder,  then  covered  with  earth  and  pressed 
down  with  its  weight,  and  finally  as  the  cut  fodder  has 
shrunk  through  fermentation  to  less  than  half  its  ori- 
ginal bulk.  These  pits  are  about  seventy-five  feet  long, 
nine  feet  wide  above,  six  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and 
six  feet  deep.  The  sides  and  ends  are  built  up  of  masonry 
laid  in  cement.  In  these  pits  the  corn-stalks  are  laid 
evenly  with  care  in  layers  of  about  eight  inches  thick, 
after  having  been  cut  and  exposed  to  the  sun  for  two  or 
three  days.     During  this  time  the  stalks  lose,  by  expos- 


Fig.  7.— PIT  AFTEB  COVERING. 


Fig:.  8. — PIT  APTEE  SIX   MONTHS. 


ure  to  the  sun,  two-fifths  of  their  weight  when  first  cut. 
A  quantity  of  salt  is  scattered  over  every  layer  equal  to 
about  sixty-six  pounds  for  each  pit.  [N.  B.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  this  is  an  account  of  the  early 
experiments  ;  the  previous  drying  and  the  use  of  salt  are 
now  abandoned.  Late  experience  has  shown  that  the 
more  succulent  the  fodder,  the  better  it  will  keep.— Ed.] 
The  three  pits  hold  about  eighty  tons,  or  seventy-five 
thousand  kilos,  of  green  fodder.  The  fodder  is  heaped 
up,  as  shown  in  figure  6,  to  a  hight  of  six  feet  above  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  and  then  covered  with  earth  to  a 
thickness  of  two  or  three  feet.  On  the  14th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1872,  this  work  was  finished.     On  the  15th  of  April 


EUEOPEAN   EXPERIMENTS   IN    ENSILAGE. 


31 


following,  one  pit  was  opened,  and  the  fodder  was  found 
in  perfect  condition,  except  for  an  inch  or  two  upon  the 
surface  and  the  sides,  where  it  was  black  and  decayed. 
Its  color  was  yellow,  its  odor  agreeable,  but  the  stalks 


had  lost  all  their  sweetness,  and  had  acquired  some  de- 
gree of  acidity.  Twenty-four  beeves  were  tlien  fed  about 
nine  hundred  pounds  daily  of  the  preserved  fodder,  or 
nearly  forty  pounds  per  head  on  the  average,  which  was 


33  SILOS    AJfD    EInSILAGE. 

equal  to  about  sixty  pounds  of  fresh  green  fodder.  The 
fodder  was  eaten  with  great  relish,  and  only  some  por- 
tions of  tliG  harder  stalks  vvcre  loft.  Tlie  second  i)it  Avas 
consumed  July  3d,  having  been  preserved  equally  well 
with  the  first.  The  third  was  not  opened  until  the  20th 
of  April,  1874,  eighteen  months  after  covering.  The 
fodder  was  in  as  good  order  as  that  from  the  other  pits, 
excepting  that  the  discolored  and  decayed  layer  was 
somewhat  thicker  in  this  pit  than  in  the  others  ;  a  result 
attributed  in  a  great  degree  to  the  gravelly  and  porous 
character  of  the  covering  earth,  the  preservation  being 
due  solely  to  the  exclusion  of  air.  In  this  instance  the 
fodder  was  preserved  whole,  and  the  cost  of  cutting 
avoided.  But  when  the  fodder  has  to  be  cut  for  final 
use,  it  has  been  found  an  economy  to  cut  it  before  it  is 
stored.  This  system  has  been  adopted  by  M.  Piret,  the 
manager  of  a  large  estate  owned  by  M.  A.  Hoiiette,  at 
Bleneau,  in  Belgium.  From  his  statement  we  find  that 
he  made  a  small  experiment  in  1868  which  was  perfectly 
successful,  the  cut  fodder  being  withdrawn  from  the  pit 
in  1869  in  excellent  condition.  In  1870  two  pits  of 
masonry  were  erected  above  ground,  protected  at  the 
sides  only  by  banks  of  earth.  They  were  found  equally 
serviceable  with  those  sunk  below  the  surface,  and  much 
more  convenient.  Following  the  statement  of  this  gen- 
tleman closely,  we  learn  that  by  the  aid  of  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  superphosphate  of  lime  per 
acre,  he  has  obtained,  on  fairly  good  soil,  seventy-five 
tons  per  acre  of  green  fodder,  although  the  average  of 
his  crop  was  not  more  than  forty-five  tons  per  acre  ;  two 
hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  this  was  cut  by  a  fodder  cutter 
driven  by  horse-power,  cutting  two  tons  per  hour,  and 
stored  in  the  pits  as  follows.  The  pit  was  built  as  shown 
in  figure  9,  which  represents  the  section,  a  dividing 
wall  in  the  center  separating  it  into  two  parts.  The  cut 
fodder,  falling  into  the  pit,  Avas  carried  in  baskets  upon 


EUROPEAN    EXPERIMENTS   IN    ENSILAGE.  33 

a  truck  on  a  portable  railway  to  the  end  of  the  pit,  where 
it  was  packed  away  in  sections  formed  by  a  movable  par- 
tition, and  trampled  down  tightly,  salt  at  the  rate  of 


about  two  ponnds  to  the  ton  of  fodder  being  added.  This 
pit  is  seen  in  figure  10,  which  represents  it  in  a  longitu- 
dinal section,  and  in  figure  11,  which  shows  it  in  plan. 


34 


SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 


and  in  which  one  division  is  seen  filled,  and  the  other  in 
course  of  filling.  When  the  pits  are  filled,  the  fodder  is 
covered  with  a  layer  of  fine  clay,  nine  inches  thick,  well 


beaten  down.  In  these  figures  the  parts  are  shown  by 
the  following  letters  :  D,  is  the  fodder  cnttcr  ;  C,  the 
rail  track  ;  D,  the  exterior  walls  ;  E,  the  division  wall ; 
F,  the  filled  compartment ;  G,  that  in  course  of  filling  ; 


EUROPEAJf   EXPERIMENTS   IN    ENSILAGE.  35 

n,  the  movable  partition  with  a  transverse  bar,  P,  which 
holds  it  in  position  ;  /,  the  truck.  The  pit  is  shown  in 
figure  9,  as  covered  with  a  roof  of  boards  as  protection 
from  the  weather,  a  measure  of  economy  strongly  recom- 
mended by  M.  Piret.  In  this  figure  the  covering  of  clay 
is  shown  on  the  toj)  of  the  fodder.  This  is  beaten  down 
frequently,  as  it  may  become  cracked  or  disturbed  by  the 
settlement  of  the  mass  beneath. 

The  cost  of  the  process  here  described  is  represented 
as  being  about  three  dollars  per  ton,  including  the  cut- 
ting, carrying,  curing,  and  feeding  of  a  crop  equal  to 
nearly  fifty  tons  per  acre  of  green  fodder,  fifty  thousand 
kilos  per  hectare.  This  enormous  yield  appears  almost 
incredible  to  us,  being  a  ton  to  less  than  four  square 
rods  ;  still  we  can  not  doubt  but  such  a  yield  is  not  only 
frequent,  but  that  it  is  sometimes  surpassed.  It  goes  to 
show  that  in  the  cultivation  and  use  of  this,  our  most 
common  crop,  v/c  come  far  short  of  the  possible  yield, 
notwithstanding  our  favorable  climate  and  the  necessity 
of  every  available  economy  to  cheapen  or  increase  its 
production. 


36 


SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MESSRS.     BUCKLEY'S    EXPERIENCE    IN    ENSILAGE. 

BY  M.    C.    WKLD,    IN    "  AMERICAN   AGRICULTURIST." 

The  good  result  which  many  persons  obtained  last  year 
in  pitting  corn  fodder,  leads  this  year  to  the  making  of 
many  pits,  or  silos,  for  this  purpose,  all  over  the  country. 


So  that  if  there  is  the  least  (juestion  as  to  the  utility  of 
this  process  for  the  preservation  of  corn  fodder,  it  Avill 
be  soon  set  at  rest  by  a  thousand  experimenters. 

I  was  much  interested  in  witnessing  the  filling  of  the 
pits  built  by  the  Messrs.  Buckley  Brothers,  of  Port  Jervis, 
N.  Y.,  whom  I  visited  about  the  middle  of  September. 


MESSRS.    BUCKLEY'S   EXPERIENCE   IN    ENSILAGE.       37 

It  has  been  their  habit  for  many  years  to  put  in  a  large 
area  of  sowed  corn,  which  was  cut  and  put  up  for  curing 
in  stooks,  and  afterwards  housed  or  stacked  near  the 
barns.  This  year  they  have  a  larger  area  than  usual,  a 
large  part  of  which  they  put  down  in  pits  for  winter 
feeding.  This  matter  of  pitting  or  ensilaging  corn 
fodder  has  been  carefully  investigated  by  them,  and  they 
have  made,  this  year,  two  pits  under  the  cow-barn  floor. 
These  pits,  figure  13,  are  twenty-two  feet  long,  nine  feet 
wide,  and  fifteen  and  a  half  feet  deep,  side  by  side,  with 
a  two-foot  wall  between  them.     They  are  walled   all 


HAY  BAY 


COW.  STALLS 


FEEDING  riCOR 


COW    STALLS 


Fig.  13,  — FLOOR  PLAN  OF  BARN,  CATTLE  STABLES,  ETC. 

around,  and  cemented  water-tight.  They  would  answer 
well  as  cisterns.  These  two  are  just  built,  but  there  is 
an  old  one,  ten  feet  wide,  fifty  feet  long,  and  seven  feet 
deep,  which  is  under  the  feeding  floor.  The  location  of 
these  pits  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  plan,  figure  13. 
The  cow-barn  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  by 
thirty  feet  wide.  The  feeding  floor  is  ten  feet  wide,  and 
the  standing  space  for  the  cows  is  the  same  width  on 
each  side.  There  is  room  for  thirty-six  cows  in  this 
stable,  up  to  the  barn  floor.  The  floor,  the  stalls,  and  all, 
from  side  to  side,  was  taken  up  for  the  filling  of  the  pits, 
but  was  relaid. 

At  the  time  I  was  there  the  work  of  filling  was  going 


38  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

on  in  full  blast.  A  pair  of  powerful  mules  -were  at  work 
in  the  horse-power.  The  feed-cutter  stood  directly  be- 
hind them,  and  cut  the  stalks  in  half-inch  pieces,  at  the 
rate  of  two  tons  an  hour.  It  required  three  men  to  tend 
the  cutter,  taking  the  corn  from  the  wagon,  feeding  it  to 
the  cutter,  and  seeing  that  it  was  properly  shunted  off 
into  the  pits,  where  one  man  spread  it  as  evenly  as  pos- 
sible and  trampled  it  down.  At  noon  and  evening  half- 
a-dozen  men  got  into  the  tanks,  and  trampled  the  fodder 
down  as  firmly  as  they  could.  One  man  and  one  team 
were  required  to  haul  the  fodder  from  the  field.  As  soon 
as  a  wagon  load  was  brought  into  the  barn,  the  team  was 
ungeared  and  hitclied  to  the  empty  wagon.  In  the  field, 
the  teamster  assisted  in  the  loading.  There  were  three 
men  in  the  field  cutting  up  the  corn  and  loading  the 
wagon.  Thus  the  labor  required  was  as  follows  :  Two 
teams  and  one  driver,  four  men  in  the  barn,  and  three  in 
the  field ;  eight  men  in  all.  With  this  force  they  were 
putting  in  about  twenty  tons  a  day. 

The  stalks  were  rather  dry ;  the  juice  did  not  squirt 
out  of  them  when  they  went  through  the  cutter,  and  the 
chafiings  were  not  even  moist  to  the  touch.  AVhen 
packed  in  the  pits,  a  strong  fermentation  sets  in  very 
soon.  The  corn  that  had  been  packed  the  day  before 
was  steaming  hot,  no  doubt  having  a  temperature  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees 
Fahrenheit.  It  had  a  vinous  odor,  which  was  very 
sweet  and  pleasant.  Mr.  Charles  Buckley  gave  us 
the  figures  of  the  cost  of  these  two  pits,  which  is  as 
follows  : 

Digging,  113  days  work  at  $1 $112.00 

Masons'  bill 94.44 

Men  to  assist  the  masons,  twelve  days  work 12.00 

Bill  for  lime  and  cement 78.10 

Total  outlay $296.54 

This  does  not  include  anything  for  stone,  for  the  stones 


MESSRS.  Buckley's  experience  in  ensilage.     39 

taken  out  of  the  j)it  were  sufficient  for  the  walls,  and 
more  too.  Neither  is  any  charge  made  for  superinten- 
dence, and  no  doubt  it  would  be  fair  to  add  fully  ten  per 
cent  for  the  supervision  and  actual  labor,  which  at  one 
time  or  another  the  farmer  himself  gave,  or  say  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  in  all.  There  were 
fifty  barrels  of  cement  used,  and  about  half  as  much 
lime,  part  of  which,  eight  barrels,  was  very  good,  and 
the  rest,  fifty  bushels,  cheap  and  of  a  low  grade. 
The  proportion  of  sand  to  cement  and  lime  in  the 
mortar  with  which  the  walls  were  laid  up,  Avas  about 
two-thirds,  but  in  coating  over  the  surface,  to  make  the 
whole  water-tight,  nearly  pure  cement  was  used.  Thus 
the  pits  were  filled,  each  one  receiving  its  quota  of  ten 
tons,  more  or  less,  being  well  trodden  down,  allowed  to 
settle  over  night,  and  again  trodden  down  in  the  morning 
before  work,  all  hands  being  engaged  in  the  trampling. 
When  full  as  possible,  settled  and  trampled,  and  begin- 
ning to  heat  in  the  tojD  layers,  it  is  covered  with  six 
inches  of  long  rye  straw,  any  other  straw  will  answer, 
and  this,  with  a  layer  of  planks,  cut  to  fit  crossways,  but 
not  so  long  as  to  bind.  Stones  are  piled,  or  rather  laid, 
upon  the  planks,  so  that  fully  one  hundred  pounds  to  the 
square  foot  rests  upon  the  fodder.  Thus  it  is  left  for 
winter  use.  Filled  full,  one  of  these  pits  will  hold  sixty 
tons.  That  is,  containing  as  they  do  over  three  thou- 
sand cubic  feet,  or  two  thousand  four  hundred  bushels, 
at  fifty  pounds  to  the  bushel,  which  the  compressed, 
moist,  and  almost  solid  fodder  will  weigh  ;  this  is  equal 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds,  or  sixty 
tons. 

As  to  the  keeping,  there  can  be  no  question,  if  the 
work  is  properly  done.  A  brisk  fermentation  comes  on, 
as  we  have  seen,  as  it  does  in  a  tub  of  apple  pulp  for 
making  cider.  If  the  air  has  very  slight  access  it  will  go 
on  to  ultimate  decay  ;  but  if  it  is  kept  out,  the  little  air 


40  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

at  first  present  is  driven  off  by  the  carbonic  acid  gas 
which  is  formed,  and  the  mass  ceases  to  ferment,  and  re- 
mains as  if  it  were  in  an  air-tight  case.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  slight  access  of  air  upon  the  surface,  and  its  action 
upon  the  juices  in  the  straw  and  upper  layer  of  fodder  is 
just  enough  to  maintain  an  atmosphere  of  carbonic  gas 
over  the  mass,  and  in  the  straw,  which  is  like  a  rubber 
blanket,  confined  as  it  is  beneath  the  planks.  The  stable 
will  be  replaced  over  the  pits,  and  v»^hen  the  time  comes 
for  feeding  there  Avill  be  no  going  out  in  storms  and 
"slush"  and  ice  to  haul  in  the  fodder  from  out-of-door 
pits,  but  the  floor  will  be  taken  up  over  a  sufficient  space, 
and  enough  feed  removed  from  one  end  for  two  days, 
when  it  will  be  packed  down  again  and  covered  closely. 
I  think  rubber  blankets,  tarpaulins,  canvas,  or  any  coarse 
cloth  painted  with  boiled  oil,  would  be  excellent  to  pack 
close  down  upon  the  fodder  to  exclude  the  air.  One 
thing  strikes  me  as  very  important,  and  that  is,  to  know 
for  a  certainty  that  there  is  no  settling  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  in  the  pit,  after  a  considerable  opening  is  made.  A 
man  going  into  a  place  filled  with  this  gas,  as  often  occurs 
in  deep  wells,  is  overpowered  before  he  knows  it,  falls,  and 
drowns  as  surely  as  if  he  were  under  water,  and  is  even 
less  likely  to  be  resuscitated.  The  way  to  know  whether 
a  man  can  enter  with  safety,  is  to  lower  a  lantern,  which, 
if  it  burns  freely,  shows  that  there  is  not  a  dangerous 
proportion  of  gas  in  the  air  of  the  pit. 


WHITMAN    &   BURRELL'S   SILOS.  41 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
WHITMAN    &    BURRELL'S    SILOS. 

Among  the  most  enterprising  experimenters  with  en- 
silage are  Messrs.  Whitman  &  Burrell,  dairymen  at  Little 
Falls,  N.'Y.  They  have  given  very  full  accounts  in 
their  local  paper,  the  "  Little  Falls  Journal  and  Courier," 
from  which  we  quote  the  essential  portions  of  their  article 
describing  their  silos  : 

Our  new  barn  and  silo  are  located  on  a  side-hill.  The 
barn  is  ninety-two  feet  long,  thirty-six  feet  wide,  and  has 
three  floors  :  First,  the  cow  stable  in  the  basement,  nine 
feet  high,  two  rows  of  stanchions,  twenty  feet  space 
between  the  rows.  About  three  feet  four  inches  back 
from  the  stanchions  is  a  wrought-iron  grating,  three  feet 
three  inches  wide,  after  the  plan  of  Prof.  E.  W.  Stewart, 
upon  which  the  hind  feet  of  the  cows  stand.  Under  the 
grating  is  a  trench,  three  feet  two  inches  wide,  and 
twenty-eight  inches  deep  ;  this  is  laid  in  cement,  and  is 
water-tight.  All  droppings  from  the  cows  pass  through 
the  grating,  and  the  urine  is  all  saved,  as  well  as  the  solid 
excrement.  There  is  a  drive-way,  eight  feet  wide,  be- 
tween these  gratings.  Sections  of  the  gratings  are  on 
hinges,  and  can  be  turned  up,  and  the  manure  from  the 
pit  loaded  on  to  the  sleigh  or  wagon.  The  vault  has  to 
be  cleaned  out  once  in  three  or  four  weeks.  Cows  are 
kept  perfectly  clean  and  dry,  and  we  think  the  arrange- 
ment is  a  good  thing. 

On  the  floor  above  the  cows,  also  nine  feet  high,  and 
the  same  size  as  the  cow  stable,  is  the  granary  and  room 
for  storage  of  all  agricultural  tools,  implements,  and 
machinery.  This  floor  also  has  entrances  so  that  a  team 
can  be  driven  in  at  one  end  and  out  at  the  other.     The 


42  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

floor  above  is  the  main  barn  floor,  and  entrance  is  from 
the  side-hill  right  into  the  center  of  the  barn.  The  silo 
is  on  the  hill-side  next  to  the  barn,  thus  : 


Drive-way  to                            Silo.                      Silo. 
bd  

§  :        27x16x20  27x10x30 


Bakn,  92x36. 


The  bottom  of  the  silo  is  on  a  level  with  the  cow- 
stable  floor,  and  there  are  entrances  into  the  silo  from 
both  the  cow-stable  and  the  floor  above.  The  top  of  the 
silo  is  on  a  level  with  the  upper  or  main  floor  of  the 
barn,  so  that  the  fodder  can  be  taken  out  on  either  of 
the  three  floors  of  the  barn.  You  will  appreciate  the 
convenience  of  this  arrangement.  The  silo  is  built  of 
stone  ;  the  walls  are  three  feet  thick  next  to  the  bank, 
and  two  feet  thick  next  to  the  barn  ;  the  roof  of  the  barn 
extends  over  the  silo.  All  around  the  walls  twelve  inches 
of  cobble  stone  are  filled  in  from  top  to  bottom,  so  as  to 
jirevent  any  water  lodging  against  the  walls.  Capacity  of 
entire  silo  about  four  hundred  tons,  or  two  hundred  tons 
for  each  compartment. 

On  June  1st  we  put  in  about  seven  acres  of  corn,  with 
a  drill,  rows  twenty-one  inches  apart,  and  dropping  six 
or  eight  kernels  to  a  foot.  In  September  we  cut  the  same, 
hauled  to  the  silo  as  fast  as  we  cut  in  the  field,  and  with 
a  feed  cutter  of  the  largest  size,  or  next  to  largest  size,  we 
cut,  at  the  rate  of  over  one  hundred  loads  per  day,  into 
pieces  three-sixteenths  to  one-quarter  of  an  inch  in 
length,  which  was  evenly  distributed  in  the  silos   and 


WHITMAN"   &    BURRELL's   SILOS.  43 

trodden  down.  The  corn  was  large,  stalks  twelve  to 
fourteen  feet  liigli,  single  ones  weighing  five  to  five  and 
a  half  pounds,  with  ears  on  full  of  milk.  Into  one  silo 
we  put  sixteen  feet,  and  into  the  other  eleven  feet.  As 
soon  as  filled,  one  taking  three  days  and  the  other  four, 
we  put  on  the  covers.  These  are  of  plank,  three  feet 
wide,  sixteen  feet  long,  and  two  inches  thick,  fitting  to- 
gether closely  ;  and  upon  these  covers  we  put  fifty  tons 
of  stone  to  each  silo,  the  stone  having  been  picked  up  on 
the  farm.  Within  a  wtick  one  had  settled  to  twelve  and  a 
half  feet  and  the  other  to  eight  and  a  half  feet. 

On  the  2Gth  of  October  we  opened  the  silo  having 
eight  and  a  half  feet  of  ensilage,  and  found  the  fodder  as 
green  and  sweet  as  when  first  put  in.  We  used  no  straw 
under  the  covers,  and  yet  right  next  to  the  boards  the 
corn  was  all  right.  We  have  fed  the  stock  since  October 
26th,  and  they  are  all  right,  looking  and  feeding  well. 
One  cubic  foot  of  ensilage  weighs  forty-seven  pounds. 
We  are  feeding  sixty-five  pounds  to  eacli  cow  per  day, 
with  four  pounds  of  middlings  and  half  a  pound  of  oil- 
meal,  or  cotton-seed  meal.  We  had,  before  Ave  began  feed- 
ing the  ensilage  out  to  the  stock,  two  hundred  and  twelve 
tons,  and  the  exact  cost  of  harvesting  it,  filling  the  silos, 
putting  on  stone,  etc.,  was  two  hundred  and  seventeen 
dollars,  allowing  full  wages  for  our  own  time,  etc.  We 
are  now  going  to  feed  fifty  to  fifty-five  pounds  to  each 
cow  per  day,  and  increase  the  gram  to  about  six  or  seven 
pounds  for  the  cows  still  giving  milk,  and  half  as  much 
to  the  dry  ones. 

This  two  hundred  and  twelve  tons  from  seven  acres, 
or  a  little  over,  is  a  large  result,  and  is  equal  to  seventy 
odd  tons  of  hay,  costing  but  three  dollars  per  ton,  or  ten 
tons  to  the  acre.  We  believe  that  by  putting  all  the 
manure  back  on  the  seven  acres  of  land  that  we  can  get 
up  to  forty  and  possibly  fifty  tons  to  the  acre.  We  see 
no  reason  now  why  the  cows  that  are  being  fed  on  en- 


44  SILOS    AND     ENSILAGE. 

silage  will  not  continue  to  do  well  in  condition  and  prod- 
uct, and  our  plan  now  is  to  raise  about  fifteen  acres  of 
corn  next  season,  1881,  and  this  will  be  sufficient  to  fill 
the  silos  full,  giving  us  four  hundred  tons,  and  this  will 
keep  forty  cows  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  ;  but 
as  we  shall  pasture  all  of  the  side-hill  during  the  summer 
season,  al)out  twenty  acres,  the  pasture  will  also  grow 
better,  because  the  cows  will  drop  more  upon  it  than  they 
take  fi'om  it.  We  think  we  can  give  the  cows  all  they 
will  eat,  morning  and  evening,  of  the  ensilage,  and  keep 
in  this  way  fifty  head  the  year  round  on  fifteen  acres  of 
corn  and  twenty  acres  of  hill-side  pasturage.  We,  how- 
ever, immediately  after  taking  o2  the  corn  early  in  Sep- 
tember, plowed  up  the  stubble  and  put  in  winter  rye. 
This  came  up  finely,  and  we  will  top-dress  it  this  winter, 
and  early  in  the  spring  give  it  a  good  bushing  in.  We 
expect  to  cut  the  rye  by  June  1st  or  5th,  and  cut  that  up 
the  same  as  we  do  the  corn  and  store  it  in  one  of  the 
silos,  then  immediately  plow  the  same  seven  acres  and 
put  in  corn  ;  Avhether  this  will  work  remains  to  be  seen. 
But  we  have  full  confidence  in  the  perpetual  fertility  of 
this  corn  land,  because  it  is  to  be  replenished,  not  only 
with  what  grew  upon  it,  but  from  the  grain  fed  with  the 
ensilage  :  for,  by  the  plan  we  have  adopted,  the  liquid 
manure  is  as  perfectly  saved  as  the  solid,  and  the  most 
accurate  experiments  show  that  the  fertilizing  matter  of 
the  liquid  is  greater  than  in  the  solid  manure.  Prof. 
Stewart  reports  that  he  has  found  the  manure  from  one 
cow,  standing  upon  the  self-cleaning  platform,  carried 
fresh  to  the  field,  the  liquid  all  absorbed  by  the  soil, 
equal  to  the  manure  from  three  cows  saved  in  the  old 
way,  by  throwing  into  a  pile  and  carrying  it  to  the  field 
months  afterward.  In  fact,  there  is  no  fertilizing  matter 
wasted  or  lost,  except  that  carried  off  in  the  milk. 

The  beauty  of  the  system  is,  that,  instead  of  spreading 
the  manure  from  forty  or  fifty  cows  over  two  hundred 


WHITMAN    &   BURRELL'S   SILOS.  45 

acres,  we  use  it  all  on  the  fifteen  acres  that  furnish  the 
fodder,  and  shortly  the  land  must  become  yery  rich,  and 
then  Ave  can  use  the  manure  on  other  land.  If  we  were 
to  build  a  silo  on  level  land,  we  would  excavate  ten  or 
twelve  feet  below  the  surface,  and  then  let  the  walls  of 
the  silo  run  up  ten  feet,  using  the  earth  that  was  excav- 
ated to  make  a  bank  about  the  walls  above  ground.  We 
would  locate  the  silo  close  to  the  barn,  making  the  top 
of  the  silo  on  a  level  with  the  barn  floor  over  the  coavs  ; 
then,  in  feeding  out  the  silo,  the  fodder  could  be  easily 
raised  with  any  of  the  same  appliances  used  for  raising 
and  carrying  hay,  and  Avith  a  track  running  to  the 
shutes,  the  car  could  be  dumped  so  that  the  fodder  would 
be  deposited  in  front  of  the  stock.  The  Avails  of  the  silo 
should  be  perfectly  plumb  and  parallel,  so  that  the  fol- 
lowers, although  fitting  closely,  can  settle  without  bind- 
ing when  loaded  with  stone.  As  you  build  the  silo  walls, 
point  up  as  you  proceed,  both  inside  and  outside,  and 
then  plaster  the  entire  inside,  bottom  as  well  as  sides, 
with  Portland  cement,  as  it  is  necessary  that  the  silo 
should  be  water-tight,  like  a  cistern. 

A  cheaper  way  to  build  a  silo,  and  one  which  Prof.  E. 
W.  StcAvart,  of  the  "Live  Stock  Journal,"  advocates,  is 
to  build  it  of  water-lime  concrete. 

We  think  that  stone  walls  two  feet  thick,  plastered 
with  Portland  cement,  are  better  than  concrete,  and 
Avhere  people  can  afford  to  build  of  stone  they  had  better 
do  so.  In  regard  to  the  size  of  silos,  we  would  make  them 
tAventy  feet  deep,  and  put  them  as  much  below  ground  as 
possible,  if  good  drainage  can  be  had,  banking  up  around 
the  outside  with  the  earth  that  is  excavated,  as  before 
stated.  A  silo  thirty  feet  by  sixteen  feet,  and  twenty 
feet  deep,  will  be  large  enough  to  contain  two  hundred 
tons  of  pressed  ensilage,  and  this  Avould  keep  thirty-fiA'e 
cows  six  months,  feeding  about  sixty  pounds  per  day. 
For  one  hundred  cows,  Ave  Avould  advise  building  a  silo 


46  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

one  hundred  feet  long,  dividing  it  into  three  compart- 
ments by  means  of  two  cross  walls,  and  then  feed  out 
one  at  a  time.  This  would  provide  an  empty  silo  in  the 
spring,  which  would  be  ready  for  the  winter  rye,  clover, 
June  grass,  etc.,  Hungarian  can't  be  grown  early,  which 
could  be  harvested  early  in  June,  cut  up  same  as  the 
corn  fodder,  and  stored  in  the  silos  for  summer  feeding. 
Our  ideas  are,  that  it  is  best  to  give  the  stock  a  good 
feed  from  the  silos  every  morning  and  night  during  the 
summer  in  addition  to  pasturage.  Now,  as  to  whether 
people  can  afford  to  put  in  silos,  etc.,  we  can  only  say 
that  on  our  upland  farm  we  had,  at  the  beginning  of  win- 
ter, two  hundred  tons  of  hay.  If  we  had  put  in  fifteen  or 
twenty  acres  of  corn,  and  cut  and  stored  it  in  the  silos, 
we  would  now  have  been  able  to  have  spared  all  of  the 
two  hundred  tons  of  hay,  and,  as  the  price  is  now 
extreme,  twenty  dollars  per  ton,  we  Avould  have  received 
for  it  enough  to  have  paid  all  expenses  of  building  both 
barn  and  silo,  besides  raising  and  harvesting  the  corn 
fodder,  and  we  should  have  had  fully  as  much  manure 
to  put  back  on  the  farm  as  we  Avill  have  now  in  feeding  the 
hay.  But  even  if  hay  was  but  eight  dollars  to  ten  dol- 
lars per  ton,  it  would  pay  to  put  in  the  corn  crop  for 
ensilage,  and  build  the  silo  to  contain  it.  The  stock 
would  be  kept  as  well  upon  the  ensilage  as  upon  hay,  and 
give  as  much  manure,  and  the  hay,  if  it  were  sold  at  eight 
dollars  to  ten  dollars  per  ton,  would  pay  all  expenses  the 
first  year.  The  right  kind  of  corn  for  seed  costs  eighty- 
five  cents  to  one  dollar  per  bushel,  and  we  hope  to  get  a 
feed-cutter  capable  of  cutting  ten  to  twelve  tons  per 
hour,  or  one  hundred  tons  per  day,  for  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  and  not  require  over  a  two-horse  tread 
power  to  run  it.  Corn  ensilage  is  probably  not  a  perfect 
food  for  cows  in  milk.  Linseed  meal,  or  cotton  seed 
meal,  with  bran  or  oat  meal,  will  produce  a  good  flow  of 
milk.     Fifty-five  or  sixty  pounds  of  ensilage  food,  with 


ENSILAGE   IN"   HUNGARY.  47 

three  ponnds  of   linseed  meal,  and  four  pounds  of  bran, 
will  answer  satisfactorily. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
ENSILAGE   IN    HUNGARY. 

The  preservation  of  green  fodder  crops  has  long  been 
practised  in  several  countries  of  the  Continent  of  Europe, 
by  essentially  the  same  process  as  that  now  termed  ensi- 
lage, but  under  the  names  of  "  Sour  Hay,"  and  "Sour 
Keep."  In  Germany,  clover  has  long  been  preserved  in 
this  manner,  and  especially  have  the  leaves  of  the  Sugar 
Beet  been  kept  in  pits  for  winter  feeding. 

In  October,  1873,  the  "  American  Agriculturist"  pub- 
lished an  article  from  its  correspondent  G.  C,  a  farmer 
in  Hungary,  entitled 

"  SOUR-FODDER    MAKING," 

the  essential  portions  of  which,  with  the  engraving  are 
here  given  :  "  Although  the  writer  is  not  acquainted  with 
American  farming  except  by  reading  of  the  'American 
Agriculturist,'  nevertheless  I  communicate  a  method  of 
preservation  of  juicy  fodder  peculiarly  important  for 
corn-producing  America. 

"  The  corn  is  sown  broadcast,  or  drilled  in  rows  nine 
to  eighteen  inches  apart,  two  metzens  to  one  Austrian 
joch,  or  about  3.3  hectolitre  to  one  hectare.  [This 
is  nearly  three  and  a  half  bushels  to  the  acre. — Ed.] 
The  cultivation  remains  the  same  ;  the  field  must  be  kept 
free  from  weeds.  At  blossom  time  the  corn  is  mown, 
loaded  into  wagons,  and  hauled  in.     The  home-brought 


48 


SILOS    AND    EliSTLAGE. 


corn  is  put  in  large  ditches,  German  Grube,  Mietlie,  ten 
or  twenty  rods  long,  and  is  here  pressed  in  by  a  few  men 
walking  on  the  green  corn.  The  engraving,  figure  14, 
will  explain  the  whole.  The  ditch  is  twelve  feet  deep, 
twelve  feet  wide  at  the  top,  and  six  feet  at  the  bottom. 
The  length  will  need  to  be  sufficient  to  contain  the  fod- 
der to  be  preserved.  The  ditch  must  be  dug  in  dry 
ground.  When  the  ditch  is  filled,  the  green  corn  is  built 
like  a  stack  upwards  about  ten  feet  over  the  level  of  the 


Fig.  14.— SECTION  OF  HTJNGABIAN  DITCH. 

ground,  as  shown  in  the  engraving.  The  finished  stack 
is  then  covered  with  earth  about  two  feet  thick  on  every 
side.  It  is  best  to  cover  the  top  of  the  stack  at  first,  be- 
cause the  weight  of  the  earth  pressing  down  the  green 
corn,  so  much  earth  is  not  needed  for  covering  as  is  the 
case  Avhen  the  sides  are  covered  at  first. 

"This  sour-hay  making  enables  us  to  store  a  large 
quantity  of  juicy  fodder  for  tlie  winter,  and  if  Avell 
covered  with  eartli  it  may  be  stored  for  a  few  years  with- 
out any  injury.  Tlie  most  important  of  all  is,  the  beasts 
being  once  acquainted  with  this  sour-hay,  like  it  very 


ENSILAGE   IN    HUNGARY.  4^ 

much.  With  us,  in  Hungary,  the  sour-hay  is  cut  and 
mixed  with  com  meal,  or  some  other  ground  grain,  and 
given  to  the  cattle ;  but  the  sour-hay  may  be  fed  uncut 
also. 

"  In  sections  where  stones  and  bricks  are  to  be  obtained 
cheaply,  the  sides  of  the  ditch  may  be  walled,  but  it  is 
not  necessary. 

"  I  should  be  very  glad  if  these  lines  would  serve  to 
encourage  the  sour-hay  making  of  corn  by  the  American 
farmers. " 

ENSILAGE   OF    ROOTS. 

The  following  year  the  "American  Agriculturist," 
published,  in  August,  1874,  another  article  from  the  same 
Hungarian  correspondent,  in  which  he  describes  the 
preservation  of  beets  with  chafP,  giving  this  also  the 
name  of  "sour- fodder."  "The  ciiief  necessity  of  every 
dairy  farm,  or  cheese  and  butter  factory,  is  to  feed  a  juicy 
food  to  the  cows  at  every  season  of  the  year ;  this  is 
easily  provided  for  in  the  spring,  summer,  and  autumn, 
by  feeding  green  rye,  wheat,  clover,  a  mixture  of  oats 
and  peas,  corn,  etc.,  but  in  the  winter  we  have  no  other 
milk-producing  fodder  than  beets  and  corn  sour-hay.  It 
is  known  to  every  farmer,  how  difficult  is  the  preserving 
of  roots  in  the  winter,  and  that  large  quantities  of  them 
are  injured  and  therefore  spoil.  To  avoid  this,  we  cure 
the  beets  and  other  roots  witli  chaff  into  sour-fodder. 
This  method  of  using  root-fodder  has  been  in  use  on 
large  farms  in  Hungary  for  some  years,  and  has  always 
been  successful.  The  method  of  making  this  so-called 
sour-fodder  is  as  follows  :  at  first  we  have  a  ditch  made 
in  a  dry  place  [the  ditch  may  be  of  the  dimensions  already 
given  for  corn  fodder. — Ed.]  When  the  beets  are  taken 
up  in  the  usual  manner  they  are  hauled  in,  washed,  and 
cut  with  a  machine.  Then  the  pit  may  be  divided  into 
3 


60  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

sections,  for  instance,  for  a  length  of  ten  rods  into  five 
sections,  and  by  this  division  the  labor  is  very  much 
facilitated,  because  the  first  section  can  be  covered  with 
earth,  while  the  second  section  is  being  filled.  When  a 
certain  quantity  of  beets  are  cut,  we  place  at  first  a  layer 
of  chaff  upon  the  ground  of  the  first  section,  upon  this 
chaff  is  placed  a  layer  of  cut  beets,  in  the  proportion  of 
one  pound  of  chaff'  to  ten  pounds  of  cut  beets ;  these  two 
layers  are  then  solidly  mixed  with  a  fork  ;  after  having 
done  so,  a  layer  of  chaff  and  beets  is  again  laid  down, 
and  agaiu  well  mixed.  This  is  repeated  until  the  mixture 
reaches  the  top  of  the  ditch  ;  then  it  must  be  built  up- 


Fig.  15. -PIT    OF   BEETS   AND   CHAFF. 

ward  from  six  to  nme  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ground. 
On  the  top  of  the  stack  are  laid  a  few  sheaves  of  rye- 
straw,  to  prevent  the  fodder  being  mixed  with  earth  ; 
then  the  first  section  is  covered  with  earth,  commencing 
the  covering  at  first  on  the  top  of  the  stack.  When  the 
first  section  is  finished,  the  second  and  all  following  sec- 
tions are  managed  in  the  same  manner,  as  above  described; 
when  the  whole  ditch  is  filled,  we  take  care  that  the  stack 
is  covered  on  every  side  with  one  and  a  half  to  two  feet 
of  earth.     This  sour-fodder,    mixed  with  corn  meal  or 


THE   ENSILAGE   OF   BREWERS'   GRAINS.  51 

other  feed,  will  be  relished  by  the  daintiest  beast.  The 
engraving,  figure  15,  shows  the  whole  arrangement.  The 
first  and  second  section  of  the  ditch  is  filled,  the  first  one 
is  also  covered  with  earth." 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE    ENSILAGE    OF    BREWERS'    GRAINS. 

In  an  article  published  in  the  ''American  Agriculturist/' 
there  was  given  a  description  of  a  silo  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  Brewers'  Grains.  This  was  attached  to  a  dairy 
barn  at  Katonah,  Westchester  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  had  at 
that  time  been  in  successful  use  for  many  years.  The 
silo  in  this  case  is  square  and  deep,  and  attached  to  the 
barn.  The  engraving,  figure  16,  shows  the  shape  and 
method  of  construction  of  the  silo,  and  at  figure  17,  the 
manner  in  which'  it  is  used.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  only 
difference  between  the  operation  of  this  and  the  French 
silo,  is,  that  the  former  has  not  so  dense  and  compact  a 
covering  as  the  latter.  A  very  close  covering  is  not  so 
essential  with  brewers'  grains,  as  with  corn  fodder,  be- 
cause they  pack  much  closer  and  exclude  the  air  better 
than  the  looser  corn  stalks  ;  but  when  the  latter  are  cut 
up  into  chaff,  and  thoroughly  well  pressed  down,  a  mere 
covering  of  planks,  nicely  Jointed  upon  the  edges,  would 
be  sufficient  for  the  exclusion  of  the  air  from  the  mass 
below.  It  is  always  preferable  to  cut  the  fodder  into 
pieces,  not  longer  than  one  inch,  for  the  reason  that  it 
then  packs  more  closely  and  the  preservation  is  more  com- 
plete. The  silo,  shown  in  figure  10,  consists  of  a  sort  of 
basement  cellar,  with   the  door  opening  into  the  cow- 


52 


SILOS   AXD   EXSILAGE. 


stable,  and  tlie  rear  sunk  for  the  most  part  beneath  the 
ground  ;  a  road  passes  to  the  end  of  it,  where  there  is  a 
door,  shown  by  dotted  lines,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
the  grains.  Tlie  walls  are  of  stone,  and  the  floor  is  of 
cement.  The  silo  is  covered  with  an  ordinary  shingle 
roof.  The  grains  are  packed  in  solidly,  until  they  reach 
the  level  of  the  door  at  the  top,  when  they  are  covered 
with  boards,  and  some  straw  is  thrown  over  the  boards. 


Fia;.  16.— method  of  construction  of  the  silo. 

When  tlie  grains  are  required,  the  lower  door  is  opened, 
and  the  grains,  as  fresh  as  when  put  in,  but  somewliat 
sour,  are  dug  out  for  use.  As  the  mass  is  cut  away, 
nothing  is  done  to  the  surface  which  is  left  exposed  to  the 
air  ;  but  as  the  grains  are  very  quickly  used  in  this  large 
dairy,  tliere  is  not  time  for  them  to  be  injured,  and  the 
surface  is  made  fresh  every  day  by  the  removal  of  what 
was  left  exposed  the  day  before.  The  same  method  may 
be  applied  to  the  preservation  of  corn  fodder.     As  cut 


THE   ENSILAGE   OF   BREWERS'    GRAINS. 


53 


green  fodder  lies  in  a  looser  and  more  open  mass  than 
grains,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  a  cover  as  nearly  im- 
pervious to  air  as  possible,  for  use  when  the  silo  is  opened 
and  the  preserved  fodder  is  in  course  of  consumption. 
This  maybe  easily  done  by  means  of  wide  planks,  jointed 
smoothly  at  the  edges,  which  should  be  laid  upon  the 
face  of  the  mass  of  fodder  as  it  is  cut  away.  Pins  may 
be  inserted  in  a  few  of  these  planks,  upon  which  another 


Fig.  17. — MASNEB  OF  COVERING. 


plank  may  rest,  and  the  whole  cover  may  then  be  pressed 
tightly  against  the  fodder  by  means  of  a  piece  of  timber 
placed  with  one  end  against  the  wall,  and  the  other  end 
resting  upon  the  cross-plank,  and  thus  made  to  act  as  a 
wedge.  This  is  shown  in  figure  17;  It  will  be  necessary 
to  cut  away  the  mass  of  fodder  smoothly  and  regularly, 
leaving  an  even  surface  for  the  planks  to  rest  against. 


64  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

^  CHAPTER    XI. 

THE   ENSILAGE   OF  OTHER  CROPS  THAN   CORN. 

The  experiments  with  ensihige  have  been,  in  this  coun- 
try, at  least,  so  generally  made  with  Indian  corn,  that, 
in  the  popular  mind,  the  term  is  understood  to  refer  to 
the  preservation  of  that  crop.  Reference  has  already 
been  made  to  the  preservation  of  other  crops,  and  some 
examples  have  been  given,  including  one  of  the  success- 
ful preservation  of  Brewers'  grains  for  a  series  of  years  in 
a  receptacle  that  is  essentially  a  silo. 

In  Germany  and  France,  where  large  areas  are  devoted 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  Beet  as  a  source  of  sugar,  the 
closest  economy  is  observed  in  every  step.  Indeed,  the 
success  of  this  culture  depends  largely  upon  the  proper 
expenditure  of  the  beet-root  pulp  after  the  factory  has 
extracted  the  sugar,  or  all  that  it  can  profitably  remove. 

Frost  greatly  diminishes  the  yield  of  sugar  ;  hence  the 
beets  are  topped  and  harvested  before  there  is  any  danger 
from  this  source.  As  a  consequence,  the  leaves  are  in 
excellent  condition,  being  in  nearly  full  growth.  "While 
beet-leaves,  and  especially  beet-pulp,  contain  a  large 
amount  of  earthy  matter,  salts  of  various  kinds,  that 
unfit  them  as  an  exclusive  food  for  animals,  they  are  of 
great  value  when  properly  mixed  with  feed  of  other 
kinds,  and  their  preservation  is  an  important  matter  to 
the  farmer  who  cultivates  the  sugar-beet.  The  great 
mass  of  beet-tops  can  not  be  fed  out  before  it  would 
spoil,  and  ensilage  comes  in  as  an  important  aid  in  its 
preservation.  From  the  accounts  given  in  European 
works  it  appears  that  the  beet  leaves  are  merely  packed 
away  in  pits,  and  directly  in  contact  with  the  earth. 

The  farmer  who  delivers  his  beets  at  the  sugar  factory 


THE   ENSILAGE   OF   OTHER   CROPS   THAN   CORN.        55 

bargains  for  the  return  of  the  pulp,  and  this  valuable 
cattle  food  has  also  been  preserved  with  success  by  bury- 
ing it  in  a  similar  manner.  ^ 

The  Beet-sugar  industry  is  making  a  slow,  but  healthy 
growth  in  this  country,  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  the  preservation  of  the  leaves  and  pulp  by  ensilage 
will  be  of  great  importance. 

Hungarian  grass  usually  comes  in  to  supplement  a 
short  hay  crop,  and  being  sown  late,  it  is  cut  late,  and  is 
often  in  danger  of  being  caught  by  frost  before  it  can  be 
cut  and  cured.  The  few  experiments  that  have  been 
made  show  that  this  grass  may  be  preserved  in  silos,  and 
thus  treated  makes  excellent  fodder. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Strong,  the  well-known  horticulturist  of 
Brighton,  Mass.,  tried  packing  Hungarian  grass  in  the 
silo,  just  as  it  came  from  the  field,  without  cutting.  The 
attempt  resulted  in  failure,  there  being  so  much  air  in- 
cluded in  the  mass  that  decay  took  place.  In  other 
instances,  where  the  grass  was  cut  before  storing,  it  kept 
in  a  satisfactory  manner,  and  made  excellent  ensilage. 

Millet, — Under  this  name  a  variety  of  plants  are  cul- 
tivated in  this  country,  and  there  is  much  confusion  in 
the  application  of  the  term.  The  true  Millet  of  Europe, 
Panicum  MilicBcum,  is  rarely  cultivated  with  us.  It  is 
to  this  plant  that  the  name.  Millet,  should  be  restricted^ 
and  with  all  other  grasses  it  should  be  used  with  a  prefix. 
The  plant  most  generally  cultivated  in  this  country  as 
*'  Millet "  is  one  of  the  forms  of  Setaria  Italica,  (also  S. 
Gennanica,  which  is  but  another  name  for  the  same,) 
and  is  a  variety  of  the  "  Hungarian  grass."  The  form 
known  as  "Hungarian  grass"  runs  more  to  foliage, 
while  those  varieties  known  as  "  Giant,"  "  Hungarian," 
"Bengal,"  "Golden,"  and  other  kinds  of  Millet,  have 
larger  panicles,  and  produce  more  largely  of  seed  or  grain 
than  the  others. 

For  the  purpOi=es  of  ensilage,  the  variety  known  as 


56  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

Hungarian  grass  would  be  better  than  any  of  the  forms 
called  Millet,  as  they  are  likely  to  give  a  large  supply  of 
herbage. 

The  name  of  Millet,  with  the  i)refix  "  Pearl,"  that  is, 
"Pearl  Millet,"  has,  within  a  few  years,  been  given  to  a 
plant  well  known  in  Southern  localities  as  "  Cat-tail 
Millet,"  from  a  resemblance  of  its  dense  heads  to  those  of 
the  real  "  Cat- tail,"  Typha  latifulia. 

"Pearl  Millet"  is  -^vo^exlj  Penicillaria  spicata,  and 
belongs  to  a  different  genus  from  any  other  grass  known 
as  Millet.  The  trials  that  have  been  made  with  it  show 
it  to  have  value  as  a  fodder  plant.  Like  several  other 
grasses,  which  are  large  enough  when  well  established, 
this  is  very  small  at  the  start.  When  a  stand  is  fairly 
made,  it  grows  on  with  gi"eat  vigor,  and  allows  several 
cuttings  to  be  made  during  the  season,  the  number  de- 
pending upon  the  latitude.  As  a  plant  for  ensilage  it  is 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  southern  farmers. 

Sorghum,  in  its  different  kinds,  is  worthy  of  considera- 
tion as  a  plant  for  ensilage.  Sorghum  vulgare  has  devel- 
oped into  several  distinct  races.  Those  forms  which  are 
grown  for  an  unusual  development  of  the  seed  panicle 
are  known  as  Broom  Corn.  Other  varieties  have  been 
produced  in  which  the  saccharine  matter  of  the  stalks  is 
developed  to  its  highest  point,  and  arc  cultivated  for 
syrup  and  sugar.  Other  varieties  still  are  cultivated  for 
their  grain,  which,  under  the  name  of  Durra,  etc.,  are 
the  principal  bread  food  of  some  oriental  peoples.  Of 
late,  some  of  these  grain-producing  forms  have  been 
offered  as  forage  plants,  and  it  is  likely  that  some  of  these 
may  be  found  of  value  for  ensilage.  Indeed,  all  of  these 
kinds  of  Sorghum,  with  the  exception  of  Broom  Corn, 
are  likely  to  give  ensilage  of  great  value,  and  should  re- 
ceive attention  in  those  localities  where  their  culture  is 
found  profitable  for  feeding  green  or  curing  dry. 

Rye  sown  for  a  forage  crop  is  of  great  value,  especially 


THE   ENSILAGE   OF   OTHER   CROPS   THAN    CORN.        57 

on  a  dairy  farm.  It  has  the  disadvantage  of  maturing 
rapidly,  and  all  at  once  ;  so  soon  as  the  heads  begin  to 
form,  the  stalk  becomes  hard  and  woody,  especially  at 
the  lower  part,  and  loses  its  nutritious  qualities. 

AYhere  ensilage  is  practised  to  a  large  extent,  it  is  well, 
as  Messrs.  Whitman  &  Burrell  propose,  to  have  a  silo 
empty  by  the  time  the  rye  is  in  its  best  condition  for 
fodder,  at  which  time  it  may  be  cut  and  stored,  thus 
preserving  this  valuable  crop  in  its  greatest  perfection. 

Both  Oats  and  Wheat,  cultivated  for  fodder  crops,  have 
been  successfully  converted  into  ensilage.  We  have  not 
heard  of  the  use  of  Oats  and  Peas  as  an  ensilage  crop. 
This  mixture  is  a  favorite  fodder  crop  with  many  farm- 
ers, and  converting  it  into  ensilage  would  allow  it  to 
be  secured  for  future  feeding  at  just  the  time  of  its  great- 
est perfection,  which  is  before  the  formation  of  the  grain 
and  seeds  has  materially  diminished  the  nutritious  value 
of  the  herbage  in  either. 

Among  the  kinds  of  forage  that  have  been  preserved 
in  silos  in  Europe  is  the  foliage  of  the  Jerusalem  Arti- 
choke, Helianthus  tuber osus.  A  variety  of  this,  called 
the  "Brazilian  Artichoke,"  is  most  generally  cultivated, 
though  it  is  "  Brazilian  "  only  in  name.  It  differs  from 
the  old  and  well-known  form  in  having  shorter  and 
rounded  tubers,  which  grow  close  around  the  base  of  the 
plant,  and  these  usually  have  a  red  skin.  The  variety 
known  as  "  Brazilian  "  is  regarded  as  vastly  preferable  to 
the  old  form  with  long  and  scattered  tubers. 

This  crop  is  coming  into  use  in  some  parts  of  the 
country,  as  affording  a  valuable  food  for  swine.  The 
yield  of  tubers  is  often  enormous,  and  as  the  harvesting 
is  done  by  the  animals  themselves  it  is  cheaply  raised. 
The  crop  is,  however,  a  very  exhausting  one,  there  being 
few  plants  that  take  from  the  soil  and  deposit  in  their 
herbage  such  a  large  amount  of  potash  as  does  this. 
Wherever  the  Artichoke  is  grown,  the  stalks  and  foliage 


58  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

should  be  returned  to  the  soil  in  some  form.  The  French 
convert  them  into  ensilage.  Cattle  and  other  animals 
are  remarkably  fond  of  the  recent  foliage,  and  it  will  be 
worth  while  for  those  who  cultivate  the  crop  for  the 
tubers  to  experiment  in  the  saving  of  the  herbage  in 
silos,  either  by  itself,  or  mixed  with  corn  or  some  other 
plant,  that  its  valuable  constituents  may  be  returned 
to  the  land  in  the  manure. 

In  the  agriculture  of  the  Southern  States  the  Cow  Pea 
largely  takes  the  place  occupied  by  clover  on  northern 
farms,  both  as  a  crop  to  be  plowed  under  for  green  ma- 
nuring, and  as  food  for  domestic  animals. 

The  crop  is  not  one  that  is  cured  into  hay  without  diffi- 
culty, as  the  large  stems  and  foliage  are  very  succulent 
and  heavy,  and  lie  so  compactly  that  there  is  danger  of 
moulding  and  decay.  When  made,  the  cow-pea  hay  needs 
to  be  handled  with  care,  as  the  leaves  readily  break  away, 
and  every  time  it  is  moved  the  finer  portions  of  the  hay 
become  scattered ;  consequently  caution  is  required  in 
feeding  it,  or  the  rations  will  be  very  unequal.  The  por- 
tions from  the  upper  part  of  the  mow  will  be  little  besides 
bare  stems,  while  that  lower  down  will  have  more  than 
its  proper  share  of  the  foliage.  By  preseiving  the  cow- 
pea  in  silos  these  difficulties  would  be  avoided,  and  the 
southern  farmer  will  be  thus  enabled  to  provide  his  ani- 
mals with  this  rich  fodder  in  a  vastly  better  condition  than 
is  otherwise  possible. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  value  of  the  cow  pea,  as  an 
ensilage  crop,  should  be  confined  exclusively  to  the  South- 
ern States.  Though  it  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  ripen 
its  seeds  in  northern  localities,  it  Avill,  in  the  climate  of 
southern  New  York,  yield  an  abundant  crop  of  most 
nutritious  herbage.  This  plant  is  one  which  should  re- 
ceive the  attention  of  those  interested  in  ensilage.  There 
are  some  twenty  or  more  named  varieties  of  the  cow  pea 
in  cultivation  in  the   Southern   States,  varying  almost 


THE   ENSILAGE   OF   OTHER   CEOPS   THAN   CORN.        59 

as  greatly  iu  the  size  and  color  of  the  seeds  as  do  the 
garden  beans.  The  plants  differ  much  in  size  and  vigor, 
as  well  as  in  their  disposition  to  run,  and  seek  some  sup- 
port upon  which  to  climb.  Some,  if  provided  with  poles, 
would  climb  to  the  hight  of  several  feet,  and  these,  in 
field  culture,  twine  about  one  another  and  form  a  dense 
matted  mass  that  prevents  harvesting  by  the  mowing 
machine.  Some  varieties  are  preferred  by  southern 
farmers  for  plowing  under,  others  are  considered  best  for 
hay,  and  still  other  kinds  for  the  production  of  lipened 
peas. 

The  "Johnson  Grass,"  also  in  some  localities  called 
*'  Guinea  Grass,"  and  "  Means  Grass,"  is  a  tall  perennial 
species.  Sorghum  Ilalepense,  with  thick  tuberous  roots, 
that  is  of  late  being  planted  extensively  in  the  Southern 
and  some  of  the  Middle  States.  It  allows  of  several  cut- 
tings during  the  season,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by  those 
who  cultivate  it,  both  for  feeding  green  and  for  hay. 
This  is  another  plant  that  promises  to  have  its  value 
greatly  increased  by  being  preserved  in  silos. 

Buckwheat  is  one  of  tJie  crops  that  has  been  suggested 
as  proper  for  ensilage,  though  we  have  no  definite  accounts 
of  its  employment  in  this  manner.  It  has  the  merit  of 
giving  a  fair  crop  upon  poor  land.  The  straw,  after  the 
grain  has  been  removed,  is  not  regarded  as  especially  val- 
uable, and  indeed,  when  fed  to  swine  or  used  as  bedding 
for  them,  is  apt  to  cause  an  eruption  upon  or  irritation  of 
the  skin.  If  stored  in  the  silo,  this  should  be  done  before 
the  grain  has  formed,  just  at  flowering  time,  in  order 
that  the  herbage  may  be  in  the  most  nutritious  condition. 

Prickly  Comfrey,  Symphytum  asperrimum,  a  plant  that 
has  been  rather  slow  in  finding  a  place  in  our  agriculture, 
is  in  Europe  commended  as  one  useful  for  ensilage,  espe- 
cially to  mix  with  fodder  corn  in  the  silo.  We  have  seen 
no  definite  accounts  of  experiments  with  this  plant  in 
the  form  of  ensilage.     In  some  localities  iu  Virginia,  and 


60  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

on  some  dairy  farms  in  New  England,  it  lias  been  cul- 
tivated to  some  extent.  The  chief  merit  claimed  for  it 
is  its  abilty  to  furnish  green  fodder  very  early  in  spring 
and  late  in  the  fall,  and  we  enumerate  it  as  one  of  those 
plants  that  may  possibly  be  of  value  in  the  silo. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


THE  NUTRITIVE  VALUE  OF  ENSILAGE. 

BY  J.    M.   MCBBYDE,   PROFESSOR  OF   AGRICtJLTURE,   ETC.,   UNIVERSITY   OF 

TENNESSEE. 

The  success  of  Ensilage  appears  to  be  fairly  established 
by  experiments  in  many  different  localities,  and  is  there- 
fore no  longer  an  open  question.  Concerning  the  nutri- 
tive value  of  the  new  food,  however,  the  views  are  many 
and  conflicting.  We  have  enthusiastic  farmers,  on  the 
one  hand,  declaring  that  ensilage  is  almost  equal,  pound 
for  pound,  to  hay,  that  it  is  sufficient  by,  and  of,  itself 
not  only  to  sustain  life,  but  to  fatten,  that  it  can  hardly 
be  improved  upon  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  scientists 
assort  that  its  value  is  to  be  estimated  by  its  percentage 
of  dry  matter  alone.  The  first  refer  you  to  the  results  of 
experiments  where  estimated  amounts  of  this  and  other 
stuffs  were  roughly  fed  to  different  farm  animals  of 
various  Aveights  and  ages  ;  the  second  to  the  results  of 
recent  analyses,  showing  that  it  contains  eighty  per  cent 
and  upwards  of  water.  The  last  affirm :  "  Average 
ensilage  contains  eighty-two  and  a  half  pounds  of  water 
and  seventeen  and  a  half  pounds  of  dry  substance  in  one 
hundred,  and  a  ton  of  it,  skillfully  fed,  will  make  twenty 
pounds  live  weight  of  beef,  which,  at  five  and  a  half 


THE    NUTRITIVE   VALUE   OF   ENSILAGE.  Gl 

cents,  would  be  one  dollar  and  ton  cents.  The  manure 
might  bring  it  up  to  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  ton, 
feeding  value.  In  view  of  the  above  showing,  the  claim 
that  ensilage  is  a  nutritious  feeding  stuff  is  simply  pre- 
posterous." Now  any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to 
make  the  necessary  calculations  from  the  data  furnished 
by  No.  14,  in  Series  2d  of  the  subjoined  experiments, 
will  find  that  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  pounds  of  ensilage  made  twenty-seven  pounds  of 
beef,  live  weight,  or  about  forty-three  and  three-quarter 
pounds  to  the  ton.  In  other  words,  the  estimated  amount 
is  wide  of  the  mark  by  upwards  of  one  hundred  per  cent. 
Again,  the  results  of  all  the  following  experiments  go  to 
show  that  ensilage  is  not  of  itself  a  perfect  food,  and  that 
its  nutritive  value  is  greatly  increased  by  the  addition  of 
other  matters. 

I  do  not  propose,  however,  to  discuss  in  detail  the  ex- 
periments of  the  several  Series,  my  space  is  too  limited 
for  this,  but  simply  to  ask  that  all  those  interested  in  the 
subject  will  examine  them,  candidly  and  fairly,  for  them- 
selves. I  have  said  enough,  I  hope,  to  show  the  import- 
ance of  experiments  carefully  and  accurately  made,  with- 
out previous  bias  or  prejudice.  ■  As  such  these  are 
offered,  for  no  expense  or  labor  was  spared  to  make  them 
thorough  and  reliable.  They  are  herewith  submitted  in 
full  and  without  reserve,  along  with  the  fewest  possible 
words  explanatory  of  their  history  and  bearing.  It  must 
be  premised  that  every  pound  of  food  was  carefully 
weighed,  the  animals  were  confined  in  separate  stalls, 
and  were  as  nearly  as  possible  alike  in  age,  blood,  and 
general  condition,  except  in  Section  II  of  Series  1st,  de- 
signed simply  to  test  the  life-sustaining  power  of  ensi- 
lage, and  in  Series  3d,  establishing  its  forcing  qualities 
when  properly  combined  with  other  foods. 

In  Sections  II  and  III,  Series  1st,  the  results  of  the 
experiments  are  not  as  unfavorable  to  ensilage  as  they  at 


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64  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

first  sight  appear ;  for  it  must  be  explained,  first,  that 
the  mouth  of  January,  during  wliich  this  Series  was  con- 
tinued, was  the  coldest  and  most  inclement  experienced 
in  this  section  for  years  ;  second,  that  No.  14  was  a  cow, 
dry  upwards  of  a  month  prior  to  the  commencement  of 
the  tests,  but  which,  about  one  week  thereafter,  came 
back  to  her  milk,  she  was  finally  dried  off  about  the 
middle  of  February ;  and,  third,  that  No.  10  was  a  sin- 
gularly savage  and  unthrifty  two-year-old  Shorthorn  bull, 
that  ill-brooked  the  close  confinement  incident  to  the  ex- 
periment. Again,  Nos.  1  and  4  of  Section  III  were 
yearlings,  weaned  only  a  week  or  so  prior  to  January  2d. 
They  had  received,  up  to  within  a  few  days  of  that  time, 
hay,  meal,  and  slops.  No.  1  refused  its  rations  at  first, 
and  never  ate  more  than  half  of  the  amount  allowed. 
No.  3,  after  the  first  week,  ate  nearly  all.  The  close  cor- 
respondence of  the  results  of  Nos.  3  and  5  in  Section  V, 
and  Nos.  8  and  11  in  Section  YI,  is  especially  worthy  of 
notice,  and  makes  these  four  experiments  particularly 
valuable.  In  No.  18  of  Section  VII  the  heavier  loss  is 
perhaps  explained  by  the  greater  flow  of  milk,  as  shown 
by  the  same  number  in  Section  VIII.  It  was  remarked 
by  several  in  attendance  on  the  animals  that  those  fed  on 
ensilage  alone  appeared  to  suffer  much  more  from  the 
cold  than  the  others.  Here  we  have  practice  confirming 
theory,  for  the  conversion  o'  a  portion  of  the  carbohy- 
drates into  acid  and  other  principles,  by  the  fermentation 
incident  to  the  process,  and  the  consequent  loss,  compar- 
ative, of  the  fat-formers,  the  fuel  of  the  animal  body, 
would  lead  us  to  expect  just  such  results. 

In  Series  2d  the  animals  were  the  same  as  those  desig- 
nated by  similar  numbers  in  Scries  1st.  Each,  No.  15 
excepted,  received  during  the  interval  between  the  two 
Series  a  daily  ration,  per  one  thousand  pounds  of  live 
weight,  of  fifty  pounds  of  ensilage,  corn ;  six  pounds  of 
the  best  hay,  and  three  pints  of  corn  meal,  and  in  this 


THE   NUTRITIVE   VALUE   OF   ENSILAGE.  65 

time,  about  six  weeks,  No.  15  gained  forty  pounds  ;  No. 
9,  thirty-eight  pounds  ;  No.  14,  fifty-three  pounds  ;  No. 
8,  seventeen  pounds  ;  and  No.  10,  thirty-seven  pounds. 
The  weather  during  the  continuance  of  tliis  Series  was 
damp  and  unfavorable,  but  by  no  means  as  cold  as  in  the 
January  preceding,  hence  the  better  results  in  case  of 
No.  14,  fed  on  ensilage  alone.  No.  9  demands  a  word  or 
so  of  explanation.  Our  farm  animals  relished  the  corn 
ensilage  from  the  start,  but  rejected  the  clover  ensilage 
at  first,  and  it  was  several  days  before  they  became  accvis- 
tomed  to  its  use.  This  animal,  No.  9,  refused  its  rations 
for  a  week,  and  in  that  time  lost  twenty-five  pounds. 
All  the  loss  occurred  in  the  first  week.  After  that  time, 
becoming  reconciled  to  the  new  food,  it  made  steady  and 
continuous  gains.  This  experiment  enforces  the  neces- 
sity of  frequent  weighings.  It  is  evident  that  the  highest 
percentage  of  gain  in  both  Series  were  made  by  animals 
fed  on  mixed  rations  of  ensilage  and  matters  richer  in 
albuminoids. 

In  Series  3d,  the  animals  were  forced  for  the  June 
market,  and  all  the  dates  save  the  first  show  the  day 
when  each  was  sold  to  the  butcher.  In  the  interval  be- 
tween this  Series  and  the  preceding,  all  the  animals  ex- 
cept No.  15  received  the  same  rations  as  in  the  first 
interval.  No.  15  alone  of  all  our  farm  animals,  upward 
of  forty  head,  persistently  refused  the  ensilage  from  the 
first.  It  was  therefore  allotted  the  ration  of  hay  in 
Series  1st  and  2d,  and,  in  the  first  interval,  three  pints 
of  meal  in  addition.  After  the  close  of  Series  2d,  we 
endeavored  to  force  it  to  eat  the  ensilage,  but  without 
success.  Hence  its  loss  of  thirty  pounds  between  the 
last  two  Series.  The  rapid  gain  of  No.  21,  a  thorough- 
bred Shorthorn,  three  and  four-fifth  pounds  per  day,  is 
especially  noteworthy.  No.  14  was  quite  heavy  with  calf. 
One  striking  fact  greatly  in  favor  of  ensilage  was  noticed 
during  this   Series.     The  animals,   although   receivinxr 


66  SILOS   AND   ESrSILAGE. 

heavy  and  constantly  increasing  amounts  of  meal,  never 
became  gorged.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
Series  their  appetites  were  hearty  and  vigorous,  their 
bowels  open  but  not  too  loose,  their  digestion  good.  One 
word  as  to  the  cost  of  the  rations.  The  price  of  meal 
and  hay,  of  course,  varies  in  different  localities.  The 
corn  ensilage,  from  the  planting  to  the  final  weighing 
down  in  silos,  cost  us  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  ton, 
or  seven  and  a  half  cents  per  hundred- weight.  This  esti- 
mate includes  the  price  paid  for  fertilizers,  interest  on 
land,  etc. 

[The  experiments  given  above  are  worthy  of  the  careful 
consideration  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  subject  of 
ensilage,  and,  with  the  explanations  given  of  them,  these 
tables  convey  the  story  in  a  most  comjjact  form.  Tables 
with  figures  repel  many  persons,  but  there  is  no  other 
method  by  which  facts  like  these  can  be  presented  so 
compactly.  The  foregoing  article,  with  the  tables,  is 
from  the  "  American  Agriculturist." — Ed.] 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
AN  ABOVE  GROUND  SILO. 

The  owner  of  a  silo  made  of  wood  and  entirely  above 
ground,  describes  in  the  French  ''Journal  d' Agriculture 
Prati(iue "  the  method  of  its  construction  :  A  certain 
number  of  beams.  A,  figure  18  (which  are  described  here- 
after), are  laid  upon  the  soil  at  a  distance  apart  of  about 
two  feet.  Each  one  of  these  beams  has  a  mortice  at  each 
end.  The  corn-stalks  are  discharged  upon  these  beams 
and  laid  crosswise  of  them,  building  up  the  pile  very 
regularly.     When  this  is  done,  some  boards  are  laid  upon 


AN"   ABOV^E   GKOUND   SILO. 


67 


the  pile,  and  other  beams,  C,  phiced  directly  over  the 
lower  ones.  The  uprights,  B,  B,  pierced  with  holes,  are 
set  in  place  ;  these  pass  through  the  mortices  of  the  beams, 
and  the  ends  which  pass  through  the  lower  beam,  A,  are 
secured  below  by  strung  iron  bolts,  through  the  holes  in 


Fig.  18.— AN   OPEN-AIR   SILO. 

A.  The  pressure  is  produced  by  two  powerful  jacks, 
placed  opposite  each  other  at  the  upright  B,  and  resting 
upon  the  beam  C.  The  power  of  the  jacks  is  exercised 
against  a  stout  iron  bolt  placed  in  a  hole  in  B.  As  the 
handles  of  the  jacks  are  turned,  the  beam  C  is  pressed 
down,  and  when  a  new  hole  in  the  upright  B  is  exposed, 
an  iron  bolt  is  passed  through  it  to  r'etain  the  pressure, 


Fifr.  19.— BEAM  OF  SILO. 

and  the  jacks  are  taken  to  the  next  upright  on  the  same 
side  of  the  silo.  After  all  upon  one  side  have  been  treated, 
the  jacks  are  taken  to  the  uprights  of  the  opposite  side, 
and  the  pressure  applied.  This  is  continued  until  the 
last  beam  has  been  pressed  at  both  ends.     Pressure  is 


68  SILOS  AKD  ENSILAGE. 

applied  in  this  manner  daily  for  eighteen  days  ;  after  this 
it  suffices  to  press  every  eight  or  ten  days.  The  ensi- 
lage is  removed  by  taking  otf  one  frame,  consisting  of  two 
beams  and  two  uprights,  and  cutting  off  the  correspond- 
ing slice  of  fodder.  The  corn-fodder  preserved  in  this 
manner  was  the  ( .aragua  corn,  slightly  whitened  by  frosts. 
It  was  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation.  Only  a  thick- 
ness of  between  three  and  four  inclies  all  around  the  pile 
was  black  and  moldy.  One  of  the  advantages  of  this 
method  is  the  ability  to  regulate  the  pressure  at  will.  A 
beam  {A,  C,  figure  18)  is  shown  in  tigure  19  ;  this  is  formed 
of  two  pieces  of  timber,  a,  a,  b,  b,  separated  by  the  blocks, 
c,  d.  The  spaces  between  the  end  blocks,  and  those  next 
to  them,  form  the  mortices  e,  through  which  the  uprights, 
{B,  figure  18)  slide.  The  owner  concludes  the  description 
as  follows:  "The  silo  I  have  made,  holds  about  two 
and  a  half  tons  of  corn-fodder.  The  frames  are  about 
two  feet  apart,  and  the  length  of  the  mass  is  about  ten 
feet.  The  two  jacks  exercise  a  pressure  of  over  twenty 
thousand  pounds  at  each  end  of  the  beams,  amounting 
in  round  numbers  to  about  sixteen  thousands  upon  each 
square  yard.  It  is  to  this  powerful  pressure  that  I  at- 
tribute the  perfect  preservation  of  the  ensilage  in  the 
open  air,  without  the  aid  of  a  fodder  cutter,  and  without 
any  masonry  or  earth-work." — American  Agriculturist. 


**SOUR-rODDEE" — PRIMITIVE   ENSILAGE.  69 

CH APTEE     XIV. 
"  SOUR-FODDER  "—PRIMITIVE  ENSILAGE. 

[It  has  been  evident  to  those  who  have  watched  the 
progress  of  ensilage  in  this  country  that  this  method  of 
preserving  fodder  presented  great  advantages  to  those 
with  sufficient  capital  to  construct  silos  and  carry  out 
the  method  on. a  large  scale.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
offered  little  to  the  farmer  with  but  a  few  cows,  as  he 
could  not  afford  the  outlay  required  for  building  silos 
and  providing  the  appliances  necessary  in  preparing  and 
storing  the  fodder.  On  page  47  is  given  an  account  of 
the  methods  of  preserving  fodder,  in  Hungary,  without 
the  use  of  a  silo,  but  by  merely  pitting  it  in  the  earth, 
and  we  now  give  a  description,  by  Mr.  H.  Nicholas  Jar- 
chow,  of  the  German  method  of  preparing  "  sour  fodder," 
which  was  apparently  the  first  attempt  at  preserving  fod- 
der by  means  of  ensilage.  This  chapter  will  afford  useful 
suggestions  to  those  who  would  preserve  their  fodder  on 
a  small  scale,  and  experiments  judiciously  made  will,  no 
doubt,  greatly  extend  the  benefits  of  this  method  of  pre- 
serving green  fodder  of  all  kinds. — Ed.] 

Mr.  Jarchow  says  : — In  Northern  Europe  there  oc- 
curred, about  half  a  century  ago,  several  successive  years 
which  were  so  unusually  cold  and  wet  at  harvest  time 
that  farmers,  being  unable  to  harvest  their  forage  crojis, 
left  them  to  rot  on  the  field.  The  second  cut  of  clover 
and  the  aftermath  were  generally  lost.  A  German  farmer, 
whose  name  is  now  forgotten,  conceived  the  idea  of  throw- 
ing his  entire  forage  crop,  cut  late  in  the  fall,  into  a  deep 
pit  dug  in  the  field,  and  to  cover  it  with  earth  to  protect 
it  from  frost.  The  forage  when  thrown  into  the  pit  was 
very  wet,  was  hard  on  account  of  the  growth  of  woody 
fibre,  and  the  most  hoped  for  it  was  that  it  would  make 


70  SILOS  AND   ENSILAGE. 

a  useful  addition  to  the  compost  or  manure  heap.  Upon 
opening  the  pit  the  following  spring  the  farmer,  to  his 
great  astonishment,  found,  instead  of  a  mass  of  manure, 
a  solid  body  of  vegetable  matter,  giving  off  an  agreeable 
odor,  the  individual  parts  of  which  were  thoroughly  fer- 
mented and  softened.  Upon  trial,  he  found  that  the 
farm  animals  ate  the  contents  of  the  pit  with  avidity, 
improved  on  it  and  soon  preferred  it  to  their  usual  feed. 

The  results  of  this  farmer's  experiment  soon  became 
widely  known,  and  agriculturists,  especially  dairy- 
men, imitated  this  method  of  curing  forage.  The  agri- 
cultural journals  took  up  the  subject,  and  these  and 
scientific  investigators  concluded  that  there  was  here  dis- 
covered a  new  and  cheap  method  of  preserving  fodder 
plants,  and  one  especially  adapted  to  small  farms.  A 
method,  which,  by  fermenting  them,  would  render  the 
plants  more  digestible  and  nutritious  and  at  the  same 
time  more  palatable. 

This  method  received  the  name  of  "  Preparation  of 
Sour-Fodder."  It  is  true  that  there  appeared  opponents 
to  this  method  who  declared  that  animals  did  not  like 
forage  thus  prepared,  and  when  forced  to  eat  it  were 
subjected  to  maladies  and  even  died.  When  these  cases 
were  investigated,  the  untoward  results  were  found  to  be 
due  to  improper  preparation,  allowing  the  forage  to 
mold,  to  salting  the  fodder  or  to  exclusive  feeding  on 
fodder  thus  prepared.  As  early  as  forty  years  ago  it  was, 
in  Germauy,  an  established  fact  that  well  prepared  sour 
fodder,  when  properly  fed,  would  not  only  be  eagerly 
eaten  by  the  farm  animals,  but  would  agree  with  and 
improve  them. 

I  well  recollect  that  in  that  year  of  general  dearth, 
1847,  the  agricultural  journals  advised  farmers  to  preserve 
their  fodder  plants  in  this  manner  in  order  to  keep 
them  longer,  to  improve  them  and  to  increase  the  quan- 
tity of  forage.     It  was  remarked  that  every  plant,  if  it 


*' sour-fodder" — PRIMITIVE   EIS'SILAGE.  71 

were  not  poisonous  and  had  not  become  too  dry,  could  be 
made  useful  for  feeding  purposes.  The  farmers  accord- 
ingly gathered  not  only  the  proper  forage  plants,  but 
potato  vines,  turnip  leaves,  the  leaves  of  trees  and  grape- 
vines, the  last  cut  from  meadows  and  clover-fields  ;  nay, 
they  even  gathered  plants  which  are  usually  refused  by 
animals,  such  as  horsetails  {Equisetum),  swamp  grasses, 
sedges,  etc.  It  was  demonstrated  that  these  plants,  un- 
der this  treatment,  became  not  only  harmless  but  pala- 
table. 

TO    PREPARE    SOUR-EODDER. 

The  method  followed  in  Germany  is  to  excavate  oblong 
pits,  having  a  surface  of  200  to  300  square  feet,  and  eight 
to  ten  feet  deep.  These  are  made  on  a  part  of  the  farm 
where  there  is  a  heavy  clay  soil,  and  where  there  is  a  per- 
fect drainage,  so  that  no  water  can  settle  in  the  pit.  The 
sides  of  the  pit  must  be  perpendicular.  The  forage,  after 
it  is  stowed  in  the  pit,  begins  to  shrink,  and  unless  the 
sides  are  perpendicular  the  mass  cannot  settle  equally. 
Some  farmers  line  the  bottom  and  sides  of  the  pit  with 
brick.  These  afford  excellent  storage  places  for  sour- 
fodder,  but  the  mason  work  is  not  necessary. 

THE   FILLING   OF  THE   PITS. 

As  soon  as  the  fodder  plants  are  cut,  and  before  they 
can  dry,  a  layer  two  or  three  feet  thick  is  uniformly 
spread  over  the  bottom  of  the  pit  and  tramped  down  by 
the  workmen.  It  is  not  advisable  to  use  wooden  ram- 
mers as  the  layers  are  apt  to  be,  in  parts,  too  closely 
compacted.  Layer  after  layer  of  fodder  is  added,  and 
tramped  down,  until  the  mass  of  fodder  reaches  three  or 
four  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Earth  is  then  to 
be  thrown  around  this  portion  which  projects  above  the 
top  of  the  pit  to  form  a  sort  of  curb  around  it  about  four 
feet  thick,  which  is  to  be   firmly  pressed  down.     By 


72  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

spreading  the  forage  evenly  as  it  is  added,  and  tramping 
it  down  uniformly,  the  air  is  expelled  from  the  mass.  To 
expel  the  air  more  certainly,  and  to  avoid  air  spaces  in 
the  fodder,  water  is  often  poured  into  the  pit  shortly 
before  closing  it.  In  case  the  fodder  is  cut  during  a  dry 
time,  water  will  be  required  to  generate  fermentation. 
Salt,  the  addition  of  which  has  been  recommended  by 
some,  has  not  been  found  to  be  advantageous,  as  it  delays 
fermentation.  After  the  pit  has  been  filled  in  the  manner 
described,  a  layer  of  clayey  soil,  three  or  four  feet  in  thick- 
ness, is  thrown  upon  the  fodder.  This  covering  should 
be  somewhat  the  highest  in  the  centre,  and  pressed  down 
all  around  so  that  it  may  shed  water.  A  few  days  after 
the  pit  is  made  the  top  will  begin  to  settle  and  cracks 
will  appear  in  the  covering  of  earth.  More  earth  must 
be  added  and  firmly  pressed  down  in  order  to  exclude  the 
air. 

In  about  six  or  eight  weeks  fodder  thus  pitted  will  be 
cured  and  ready  for  use,  and  will  be  preserved,  unim- 
paired as  food,  for  several  years,  if  it  has  been  judiciously 
treated. 

The  method  here  given  is  the  usual  way  in  which  Ger- 
man farmers  prepare  "  sour-fodder,"  though  there  may 
be  differences  on  account  of  local  or  climatic  reasons. 

OPENING   THE   PITS. 

In  opening  the  pits,  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  the 
access  of  air  and  water  to  the  forage.  It  is  best  to  make 
a  small  opening  at  one  end  of  the  jiit,  and  having  taken 
out  the  needed  quantity  of  the  fonige,  to  close  the  open- 
ing with  straw,  or  boards,  and  earth.  TJie  fodder  Avithin 
the  pit  will  be  found  in  a  compact  mass,  which  must  be 
cut  with  a  suitable  knife,  and  must  be  fed  before  it  dries 
and  becomes  worthless. 


ENSILAGE   IN   GERMANY.  73 

CHAPTER    XV. 
ENSILAGE  IN   GERMANY. 

[Those  who,  by  travel  or  by  reading,  are  at  all  familiar 
with  German  agriculture,  have  known  of  the  methods  of 
preserving  fodder  crops  followed  in  that  country.  They 
know  that  even  the  smallest  farmers,  as  a  matter  of  strict- 
est economy,  often  preserved  their  clover  and  other  fod- 
der crops  as  "sour-fodder,"  "sour  keep,"  and  "brown 
hay  " — and  these  terms,  and  the  articles  they  represent, 
were  familiar  to  them  long  before  "  silo  "  and  "  ensilage" 
had  a  place  in  the  literature  of  agriculture.  The  origin 
of  this  German  method  is  given  in  the  preceding  chapter 
by  Mr.  Jarchow,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  ensilage  was 
successfully  practised  by  German  farmers  long  before  the 
silos  of  M.  Goflfart  presented  the  subject  of  ensilage  upon 
a  sufficiently  grand  scale  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
agricultural  world.  We  would  not  detract  from  the 
credit  due  M.  Goffart  for  his  labors,  but  we  would  not 
have  the  humble  farmers  of  Germany  deprived  of  their 
share  of  praise  for  establishing  silos  on  a  small  and  prac- 
ticable scale.  Mr.  Jarchow  has  prepared,  at  our  request, 
the  following  chapter  upon  the  general  practice  of  ensi- 
lage in  Germany. — Ed.] 

In  German  husbandry,  beet  raising  is  of  the  greatest 
importance,  not  only  for  sugar  making  but  also  on  ac- 
count of  the  great  nutritive  value  of  both  the  beet  and  its 
leaves.  Though  the  leaves  are  occasionally  thinned  dur- 
ing the  time  of  the  growth  of  the  plants,  at  harvest,  in 
the  fall,  there  is  a  great  mass  of  green  leaves  on  hand, 
averaging  4,000  pounds  to  the  acre.  These  leaves  repre- 
sent to  the  German  farmer  a  money  value  of  from  six  to 
seven  dollars.  When  dried,  the  leaves  lose  their  nutritive 
properties,  while  when  pitted  green  they  are  not  only 


74  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

fully  preserved  but   underi^o   chemical  changes  which 
adapt  them  for  feeding  purposes. 

Sour-fodder,  made  from  beet  leaves,  is  cured  as  follows  : 
The  leaves,  together  with  the  upper,  green,  woody  part 
or  "  neck  "  of  the  root,  are  cut  and  left  a  day  or  so  on  tiie 
field  to  dry  ojff  a  little,  so  that  the  adhering  soil  may  be 
easily  removed.  Wooden  forks  are  used  aud  a  sieve  five 
feet  kmg  ;  this  is  made  of  laths  which  are  separated  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  iu  order  to  allow  the  adhering  earth, 
which  is  loosened  by  shaking  the  sieve,  to  pass  through 
readily.  The  leaves,  after  having  been  thoroughly  shak- 
en in  the  sieve  and  freed  from  the  soil,  are  packed  in  pits 
six  to  eight  feet  deep,  which  are  at  the  bottom  six  feet 
and  at  the  top  ten  feet  wide.  The  leaves  are  then  closely 
tramped  down.  The  forage  is  accumulated  in  the  pit  in 
this  wise  to  a  height  of  three  feet  above  the  surface  of  the 
soil,  and  is  then  surrounded  with  a  wall  of  closely  pressed 
earth  three  feet  thick.  The  whole  pit  is  then  covered 
with  three  feet  of  earth.  Some  farmers,  fearing  that  the 
fodder  may  be  spoiled  in  the  pit,  add  salt  to  it,  but  the 
opinion  at  present  universally  accepted  in  regard  to  the 
use  of  salt  is  that  it  is  injurious.  The  principal  object 
of  pitting  the  forage  is  to  cause  fermentation  and  the 
formation  of  lactic  acid,  and  both  of  these  are  hindered  by 
the  use  of  salt.  Lactic  acid  is  formed  when  lime  enters 
into  organic  compounds,  some  of  which  contain — and 
others  do  not  contain — nitrogen.  These  conditions  are 
present  in  the  beet  leaves.  From  experiments  it  appears 
that  an  addition  of  grain  chaff  to  beet  leaves  has  proved 
to  be  very  advantageous,  because  this  dry,  and  by  itself  nu- 
tritious substance,  absorbs  the  liquid  constituents  of  the 
beet  leaves  when  ])acked  with  them  in  the  pits.  Besides, 
an  addition  of  chaif,  not  exceeding  five  per  cent  of  the 
weight  of  lea\es  and  beet  heads,  regulates  the  fermenta- 
tion of  the  green  mass,  renders  it  drier  and  more  accepta- 
ble to  the  farm  animals,  while  at  the  same  time  the  woody 


ENSILAGE   IN   GERMANY.  75 

fiber  in  the  chaff  becomes  softened.  The  sugar  in  the 
beet  leaves  and  heads  is  entirely  decomposed,  and  those 
parts  of  the  plants  which  contain  nitrogen  are  also  sub- 
jected to  decomposition,  while  the  fatty  substances  increase 
by  thirty-three  per  cent.  In  fresh  beet  leaves  the  propor- 
tion of  the  nitrogenous  nutritive  properties,  to  those 
which  do  not  contain  nitrogen  is  1  :  2.5  (just  as  in  clover 
hay).  After  the  beet  leaves  have  undergone  the  full 
process  in  the  souring  pit,  this  proportion  is  changed  to 
1  :  5,  a  proportion  which  is  found  in  good  meadow  hay. 
Owing  to  the  fermentation  in  the  souring  pit,  beet  leaves 
therefore  lose  the  uncommonly  rich  proi)ortion  of  their 
nutritive  properties,  and  enter  into  a  good  medium  pro- 
portion, such  as  is  found  in  the  standard  fodder,  meadow 
hay. 

After  from  five  to  six  months  the  pit  may  be  opened, 
and  there  will  be  found  a  well  preserved  nourishing  fod- 
der which  every  farm  animal  will  eat  with  avidity. 

Maize  or  Indian  corn,  in  North  German  husbandry, 
does  not  play  so  important  a  part  as  in  South  Germany, 
because  the  summers  in  the  northern  portion  are  seldom 
sufficiently  hot  to  allow  of  its  ripening.  Maize,  there- 
fore, in  North  Germany,  is  only  cultivated  for  soiling. 
But  if  cut  green,  maize  cannot  be  used  exclusively  in 
feeding  their  cattle  when  farmers  wish  to  fully  utilize 
it,  because  maize  does  not  contain  a  sufficient  amount 
of  nitrogenous  substances.  This  proportion  must  be  at 
least  1  (containing  nitrogen)  :  7  (not  containing  nitro- 
gen), but  is  in  green  maize  mostly  1  :  10,  seldom  1  :  9,5. 
Farmers,  therefore,  mix  green  maize  with  other  fodder 
materials  in  order  to  make  up  for  the  deficiency  of  nitro- 
gen in  green  maize.  Usually  they  resort  to  clover  in 
blossom,  young  grass,  oil-cake,  etc.  If,  at  the  approach 
of  September,  a  farmer  has  a  good  stock  of  green  maize 
on  hand,  it  is  mixed  with  clover  hay  or  good  meadow  hay 
and  pitted  in  the  same  way  as  other  fodder  plants  are 


76  SILOS  AND   ENSILAGE. 

treated  in  the  souring  pit.  The  forage  is  ready  for  use 
at  the  end  of  eight  or  ten  Aveeks  ;  it  has  a  dark  green  hue 
and  emits  an  agreeably  sour  odor. 

In  South  Germany  and  Austria  the  summers  are 
warmer  and  of  longer  duration  tlian  at  the  north.  There 
the  maize  ripens  in  time  and  can  be  utilized  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  America.  Maize  is,  in  these  parts  of  Europe, 
used  for  the  preparation  of  sour  forage,  but  only  after  it 
is  fully  ripe  and  the  ears  are  gathered.  Freshly  cut 
maize  stalks  are  laid  lengthwise  in  pits  ten  feet  wide  and 
the  laborers  closely  tramp  them  down.  When  the  pit  is 
filled,  heavily  loaded  wagons  or  heavy  rollers  are  drawn 
over  the  pit,  and  thus  its  contents  are  pressed  together  as 
much  as  possible  in  order  to  avoid  cavities  in  the  mass, 
and  the  consequent  accumulation  of  air.  The  space 
gained  by  this  pressing  is  at  once  filled  with  fresh  stalks 
and  stamped  down  again,  and  the  filling  and  refilling  are 
continued  until  the  mass  of  fodder  is  three  feet  above  tiie 
surface  of  the  soil.  The  top  of  the  fodder  heap  is  made 
one  foot  narrower  than  at  the  surface  of  the  soil  in  order 
that  in  sinking,  the  mass  may  not  catch  on  the  Avail  and 
cause  cavities.  The  projecting  part  of  the  souring  pit  is 
surrounded  with  a  heavily  pressed  earth-wall,  three  feet 
thick,  and  then  covered  with  a  layer  of  earth  of  the  same 
thickness,  to  which  a  conical  shape  is  given.  In  from 
three  to  four  months  the  fodder  is  ready  for  use  and  can 
be  preserved  by  proper  treatment,  especially  by  protec- 
tion against  air  and  Avater,  for  several  years  in  a  good, 
sound  condition. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  remark  that  in  Germany,  in  feed- 
ing green  maize  in  soiling,  the  earlier  ripening  kinds  have 
proved  much  more  valuable  than  the  late  ripening.  The 
reports  of  several  of  the  principal  experiment  stations 
concur  in  stating  that  the  early  ripening  sorts  of  maize, 
grown  upon  equally  large  areas  of  the  same  soil,  contain, 
when  cut  at  the  same  time  (September  1st)  from  one- 


SWEET   ENSILAGE.  77 

sixth  to  one-fifth  part  more  of  dry  substance  than  the 
later  ripening.  Besides,  the  dry  substance  of  the  early 
ripening  varieties  contain  much  more  nutritive  constitu- 
ents than  the  later  ripening,  and  that,  in  regard  to  the 
nutrition  of  animals,  three  pounds  of  forage  of  the  form- 
er are  estimated  to  be  equal  to  four  pounds  of  the  late 
ripening  kinds. 


CHAPTEK     XVI. 

SWEET    ENSILAGE. 

In  the  early  days  of  ensilage  the  writer  received  a 
fruit  jar,  the  cover  of  which  closed  it  air-tight,  contain- 
ing finely  cut  corn  stalks.  No  letter  of  explanation  ac- 
companied the  jar,  and  after  waiting  several  days  for  one, 
the  contents  of  the  jar  were  examined.  Upon  removing 
the  air-tight  cover,  the  odor  of  acetic  acid  was  so  positive 
and  pervading  as  to  suggest  the  thought  that  some  one 
had  discovered  a  method  of  producing  vinegar  from  corn 
stalks  and  had  sent  this  specimen  to  illustrate  his 
method.  We  afterwards  learned  that  it  was  sent  as  a 
sample  of  ensilage  which  was  so  sour  that  the  owner 
feared  to  feed  it  to  his  cows.  It  has  been  the  experience 
of  those  who  have  preserved  fodder  in  silos  that,  when 
opened,  the  ensilage  was  often  intensely  sour,  and  npon 
exposure  to  the  air,  often  grew  still  more  sonr.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  contents  of  other  silos,  when  opened, 
were  quite  without  acidity,  and  even  had  a  rich  odor  like 
that  of  dried  fruit,  as  described  by  some,  while  others 
compared  the  odor  to  molasses.  While  the  animals  ate 
the  sour  ensilage  with  avidity,  there  was  a  feeling  of  ap- 
prehension that  long  continued  feeding  upon  such  in- 
tensely acid  food  might  result  unfavorably,  and  one  of 


78  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

the  first  questions  presented  to  those  interested  in  the 
science  of  ensilage  was  :  "How  can  we  secure  sweet  en- 
silage ? "  This  subject  early  engaged  the  attention  of 
Manly  Miles,  M.  D.,  now  Professor  of  Agriculture  at 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  at  Amherst. 
Doctor  Miles  presenied  the  results  of  his  experiments,  and 
the  views  derived  from  them,  at  the  Ensilage  Congress 
of  188i. 

Doctor  Miles'  conclusions  are  here  given  in  our  own 
language  :  The  various  kinds  of  fermentation  that  take 
place  in  vegetable  substances  are  due  to  minute  plants 
(Fungi)  which  by  their  groAvth  set  up  changes  in  vege- 
table componnds.  Thus,  the  yeast  plant  ferments  the 
bread,  beer,  etc. ;  and  similar  minute  plants,  which  occur 
in  fruit  juices,  produce  wine,  cider,  etc.  The  minute 
plants  which  produce  these  forms  of  fermentation  re- 
quire the  access  of  air  that  they  may  perform  their  func- 
tions. There  is  another  group  of  these  minute  organ- 
isms which  multiply  in  a  dili'erent  manner  from  those 
just  noted,  and  which  cause  the  formation  of  lactic  and 
other  acids,  which  are  known  as  bacteria.  These  occur 
in  myriads  in  fresh  ensilage,  and  live,  multiply  and  carry 
on  their  fermentation  when  the  air  is  completely  excluded 
from  the  silo.  Doctor  Miles'  experiments  were  directed 
to  ascertaining  the  conditions  under  Avhich  these  bacteria 
live,  and  how  they  could  be  destroyed.  He  found  that 
the  bacteria  of  lactic  fermentation,  and  of  kindred  fer- 
ments, are  killed  by  a  temperature  of  116°,  if  this  be 
long  continued  for  some  time ;  but  they  are  destroyed 
much  more  promptly  if  exposed  to  a  higher  temperature 
of  l;iO°  to  125°. 

When  freshly  cut  corn  ensilage  is  exposed  to  free  ac- 
cess of  air  in  the  silo  the  mass  heats.  It  undergoes  a 
process  of  gentle  burning  (Eremacaitsis),  with  a  rise  of 
temperature  which  may  readily  reach  to  150°.  Hence, 
if  the  cut  fodder  lies  up  loosely  in  the  silo,  and  that  is 


SWEET    ENSILAGE.  79 

slowly  filled,  the  filling  being  continued  through  several 
days,  a  high  temperature,  from  125°  to  140°,  or  more,  may 
be  easily  obtained  with  an  imperceptible  loss  of  fodder. 

Doctor  Miles  ascertained  that  the  exclusion  of  air  from 
fresh  ensilage,  whether  packed  or  not,  does  not  only  not 
destroy  the  growth  of  the  bacteria  of  fermentation,  but 
promotes  it.  The  result  of  this  continued  growth  of 
bacteria  is  the  conversion  of  the  entire  contents  of  the 
silo  into  what  is  known  as  "sour  ensilage."  This  is 
sourer  the  older  it  is.  There  are  a  great  variety  of  pro- 
ducts from  this  repressed  fermentation,  and  on  exposure 
to  the  air  the  ensilage  becomes,  in  some  cases,  still 
sourer  from  the  formation  of  acetic  acid,  or  vinegar. 

It  has  been  ascertained  that  the  exclusion  of  air  from 
ensilage  that  has  been  heated  to  120°  or  125°,  stops  all 
action,  and  the  mass  gradually  cools  down.  The  bacteria 
of  fermentation  are,  at  this  temperature,  completely" de- 
stroyed— root,  branch  and  germ — and  the  mass  remains 
as  if  it  were  in  a  completely  sealed  preserve  jar.  Indeed, 
the  process  of  ensilage  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  pre- 
serving fruits.  By  the  exclusion  of  air  while  the  sub- 
stance is  hot,  fermentation  cannot  take  place. 

The  above  is  essentially  the  theory  as  announced  by 
Doctor  Miles.  After  its  announcement,  cases  in  which  the 
filling  of  silos  had  been,  by  accident,  very  slow,  in  which 
great  heat  had  taken  place,  and  on  this  account  were  sup- 
posed to  be  ruined,  were  reported  ;  but,  contrary  to  expec- 
tation, they  yielded  sweet  ensilage,  the  best  the  farmers 
reporting  the  cases  had  ever  seen.  The  odor  of  the  ensihige 
was  positively  sweet — like  tliat  of  molasses,  and  it  wsls 
greatly  relished  by  the  cows  and  j)rovcd  to  be  supcrioi  as 
a  milk-producing  feed. 

After  the  theory  and  practice  of  Doctor  Miles  were  an- 
nounced, we  heard  of  those  of  Mr.  Geo.  Fry,  in  England, 
who  had  been  working  in  the  same  direction,  and  had  ar- 


80  SILOS   AND    ENSILAGE. 

rived  at  the  same  conclusions.  Since  then  Doctor  Miles' 
views  have  been  confirmed  over  and  over  again. 

In  a  pamphlet,  entitled  ''  Tlie  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Sweet  Ensilage,"  George  Fry,  F.L.S.,  gives  the 
results  of  his  experiments  upon  sweet  ensilage.  The 
reader  of  Mr.  Fry's  work  must  bear  in  mind  that  his  en- 
silage is  very  different  from  our  own,  where  Indian  corn 
(maize)  is  almost  the  sole  crop  ensiloed.  Mr.  Fry's 
experience  was  witli  "green  rye,  crimson  clover,  with 
and  without  oats  ;  tares  or  vetches,  with  oats  ;  Trifolium 
pratense  (red  clover),  with  rye  grass ;  and  meadow 
grass."  The  whole  teaching  of  Fry's  book  may  be 
summed  up  in  this,  from  page  42  : 

"  One  condition,  I  believe,  to  be  absolutely  essential  for 
the  production  of  sweet  ensilage,  viz.  :  The  temperature 
of  the  ensilage  must  exceed  1 23°  Fahr. ;  if  that  tem- 
perature is  not  reached,  the  ensilage  will  be  sour." — 
How  far  this  axiom  will  apply  to  ensilage  of  Indian 
com,  experiments  must  verify. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 
EXPERIENCE  WITH  ENSILAGE. 

J.  p.  BOBEKTS,  PROFESSOR  OF  AGRICULTURE,  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY. 

I  have  had  some  experience  in  building  silos,  and  in 
cutting  and  feeding  ensilage,  and  perhaps  it  may  be  of 
some  value  to  those  who  intend  to  adopt  this  new  method 
of  preserving  fodder.  As  I  have  formerly  stated,  the  silo 
should  be  long  and  narrow,  with  the  long  side  next  to 
the  barn.  If  the  extreme  inside  length  were  thirty-two 
feet  and  the  width  sixteen  feet,  there  should  be  three 
cross  divisions  in  it ;  this  gives  four  compartments,  eight 
by  sixteen  feet  each.  If  the  extreme  depth  of  the  silo  is 
twenty  feet,  it  can  be  filled  up  fifteen  feet  and  will  settle 


EXPESIENCE   WITH   ENSILAGE,  81 

to  about  eleven,  nearly  all  the  settling  occurring  within 
forty-eight  hours.  Nearly  all  the  upper  half  of  the  silo 
is  for  temporary  use,  and,  therefore,  may  be  constructed 
of  rough  unmatched  boards.  There  will  be  wanted,  at 
most,  only  twelve  feet  of  air-tight,  stone,  or  svooden  wall. 
One  year  I  raised  and  ensilaged  about  three  acres  of 
Southern  white  corn.  The  drouth  cut  it  short,  and 
there  proved  to  be  scarcely  fifty  tons  of  it.  It  was  fed 
to  fattening  steers,  milch  cows,  and  three-fourths  blood 
Holstein  heifers,  coming  two  years  old  in  June  and  July. 
The  three  heifers  selected  were  an  average  of  six  that  had 
been  running  in  an  open  basement,  and  had  been  fed  on 
hay  alone.  They  were  put  into  stanchions  on  a  plank 
floor  (for  the  first  time)  and  about  two  weeks  afterwards 
Ihe  experiment  began.  Each  was  daily  fed  fifty  pounds 
of  ensilage  and  one-half  pound  of  malt  sprouts.  The 
weights  at  various  times  were  as  follows  : 

No.  1.  No.  2.  No.  3. 

Feb.     34 770  pounds  650  pounds  780  pounds 

Marcli    3 832      "  850      "  834      " 

"       10 SSO      "  890      '«  850       " 

"       17 840       "  sm      "■  820      " 

"      24 824      "  882      "  824      " 

March  31st  two  pounds  of  cotton-seed  meal  were  added 
to  each  ration  : 

April      7 890  pounds        850  pounds        840  pounds 

"       14 872      "  93S      "  862      " 

"      22 870      "  925      "  902      " 

May  1 916      "  960      "  926      " 

If  the  weight  of  March  3d  be  taken  as  the  most  correct, 
it  is  evident  that  there  was  no  such  true  gain  as  the  fig- 
ures between  February  24th  and  that  date  indicate,  but 
rather  an  increase  of  the  contents  of  the  stomach,  due  to 
more  palatable  food — then,  the  increase  shown  is  but 
fourteen  pounds  for  the  three  animals  in  twenty-one 
days.  It  is  evident  that  this  ration  was  very  close  to  a 
maintenance  one,  as  it  was  meant  to  be.  The  analysis  of 
the  ensilage,  as  well  as  all  the  other  foods  experimented 
with,  has  been  made.     The  gain  in  the  last  twenty-three 


82  SILOS   AND    ENSILAGE. 

days,  wlien  the  two  pounds  of  cotton-seed  meal  were 
added,  was  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  pounds,  while 
in  the  interim  of  fourteen  days,  from  March  24th  to 
April  7th,  the  gain  was  fifty  pounds.  Without  doubt, 
this  last  gain  was  largely  made  during  the  first  seven 
days  of  April,  when  the  meal  was  fed.  From  the  above, 
may  not  the  following  conclusions  be  drawn  ?  Tiiat 
Southern  corn  ensilaged  will  maintain  young  animals, 
but  that  it  is  better  economy  to  add  to  it  some  food  rich 
in  albuminoids.  The  heifers,  fed  as  above,  came  through 
the  winter  looking  far  better  than  the  three  of  the  same 
age  fed  on  hay,  and  done  much  better  in  the  spring  after 
they  Avent  to  pasture. 

In  February  we  had  two  aged  cows  go  dry,  and  one 
heifer  ;  they  were  then  low  in  flesh,  having  been  milked 
over  a  year.  With  feeding  stuffs  ranging  from  thirty- 
five  to  forty  dollars  per  ton,  they  could  not  be  sold  at  an 
average  of  more  than  twenty-five  dollars.  I  determined 
to  feed  them.     They  weighed  as  follow's  : 

Heifer.  No.  1.  Xo.  2. 

Feb.    21 1,150  pounds    1,000  pounds    980  pounds 

April  20 1,320      "  1,150       "        1,070      " 

Sellinfrprice....  $65  74  $50  00  $49  97 

They  were  fed  fifty-two  pounds  of  ensilage  and  eight 
quarts  of  corn-meal  each,  per  day,  until  April  5th,  when 
two  quarts  of  cotton-seed  meal  were  substituted  for  two 
quarts  of  corn-meal.  The  best  results  in  feeding  for 
milk  was  when  ensilage  was  fed  in  connection  with  about 
two  pounds  of  corn-meal,  two  pounds  of  bran  and  three 
pounds  of  cotton-seed  meal. 

On  the  16th  and  17th  of  June  following  I  put  into  one  of 
our  silos  (eleven  by  sixteen,  and  twenty-eight  feet  deep) 
three  acres  of  rye  and  one  and  a  half  acres  of  clover  ;  one 
load  of  clover  was  sandwiched  between  two  loads  of  rye. 
The  fuel  was  one  and  a  half  cords  of  two-foot  wood  ;  the 
engineer  a  sixteen-year  old  student ;  one  man  in  the  silo 
the  first  day,  two  the  second  ;  seven  men  and  two  teams 


EXPEKIENCE   WITH   ENSILAGE.  83 

to  cut,  haul,  and  feed  the  material.  The  rye  averaged 
fully  six  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  and  grew  on  the 
ground  where  the  ensilage  corn  grew  last  year,  which 
was  again  planted  to  ensilage  corn.  The  clover  was 
heavy,  and  together  they  filled  twenty-two  feet  of  the 
silo.  It  settled  six  feet  in  forty-eight  hours,  and  appeared 
to  be  about  done.  This,  at  forty-five  pounds  to  the  cubic 
foot,  gave  sixty-three  tons.  The  pressure  is  secured  by 
about  three  tous  of  stone  piled  at  the  corners,  and  a 
screw  anchored  in  the  bottom  of  the  silo,  made  of  two 
sections  of  one  and  a  quarter  inch  square  iron  ;  the  third 
section  round,  four  feet  of  it  having  threads  cut,  five  to 
the  inch.  Two  eight-inch  timbers  are  laid  lengthwise 
about  four  feet  apart ;  short  blocks  upon  these  form  a 
sure  foundation  for  the  circular,  cast-iron  cap,  upon 
which  the  nut  turns.  Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been 
said  against  the  rod  pressure,  I  like  it.  The  silo  was 
covered,  weighted,  and  screwed  down  within  half  an  hour 
from  the  time  the  cutter  stopped,  and  less  than  two 
hours  labor  of  one  man  had  been  spent  in  turning  Jown 
the  screw  ;  ten  minutes  will  unseal  it. 

The  reader  who  is  balancing  the  pros  and  cons  of  ensi- 
lage in  his  mind,  is  without  doubt  still  undecided,  but  I 
think  I  have  given  data  from  which  a  better  understand- 
ing may  be  reached.  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  anyone 
to  make  others'  circumstances  similar  to  his  own,  but  it 
may  not  be  unprofitable  to  enumerate  tlie  various  items 
of  cost,  etc.  First,  we  have  a  stationary  engine  for 
threshing — a  horse  power  may  be  used.  The  silos  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  tons  capacity  together  cost  about 
three  hundred  dollars.  The  cutter  cost  one  hundred 
dollars,  but  we  need  one  for  other  use.  Two  of  the  men 
employed  cost  one  dollar  per  day;  seven  men,  one  dollar 
and  twenty-five  cents  per  day;  and  one  man,  one  dollar 
and  sevent3'-five  cents  per  day.  The  teams  are  worth 
very  little  to  us  about  that  time  of  the  year  and  their 


84  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

labor  is  light.  There  is  a  little  charge  to  be  made  for 
the  use  of  tools  and  implements.  The  three  acres  of  rye 
had  a  dressing  of  fifteen  loads  of  farm  manure,  worth  to 
us  fifteen  dollars.  Perhaps  half  of  this  should  be  charged 
to  the  succeeding  corn  crop. 

What  it  will  cost  A  or  B  to  raise  three  acres  of  rye,  I 
cannot  say,  nor  what  one  and  a  half  acre  of  clover  is 
worth  ;  the  second  growth  will  probably  be  heavier  than 
the  first.  From  September  until  June  I  had  ready  sale 
for  about  5,000  quarts  of  milk  per  month,  at  five  cents 
per  quart.  If  drouth  comes,  it  is  difficult  to  produce 
it,  for  the  more  cows  one  purchases  the  more  the  evil 
is  aggravated ;  but  with  ensilage,  cows  can  be  kept 
from  flies,  out  of  the  sun,  fed  in  the  stables,  and  turned 
out  at  night. 

I  believe  the  greatest  utility  of  silos  will  be  found  to 
consist  in  the  means  they  furnisli  of  preserving  forage 
plants  in  a  green  and  palatable  state,  which  may  be  easily 
grown  in  abundance  in  May  and  June,  but  if  not  then 
secured  they  would  become  dried  up  and  nearly  worth- 
less ;  or,  if  dried  and  housed,  the  animals  appear  to  have 
but  little  relish  for  them  in  the  hot  dry  days  of  August. 
The  reasons  for  building  silos  with  small  compartments 
are  manifold  ;  a  small  compartment  may  be  filled  and 
sealed  up  in  a  single  day,  thereby  not  seriously  interfer- 
ing with  the  regular  work.  Each  forage  plant  may  be 
taken  when  in  its  best  condition.  One  compartment 
may  be  filled  early  with  rye  and  clover,  wliich  is  showing 
a  tendency  to  spoil  by  lodging,  or  is  full  of  weeds  that  it 
is  desirable  to  eradicate  ;  a  second,  with  oats  and  a  second 
cutting  of  the  former  clover  field,  or  a  weedy,  belated 
piece  of  timothy.  A  piece  of  fodder  corn  and  aftermath 
would  fill  a  third  compartment  later  in  the  season. 

If  the  compartments  are  small,  they  may  be  uncovered 
entirely  and  fed  from  the  top,  and  if  not  all  consumed, 
they  can  be  filled  up  with  new  material ;  or,  if  one  or 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES   ON    ENSILAGE.  85 

more  compartments  are  entirely  emptied,  they  may  be 
refilled  in  September,  thus  securing  a  two-fold  benefit 
from  them.  From  my  experience,  I  judge  that  a  com- 
partment not  entirely  emptied  in  the  spring,  if  disturbed 
only  on  the  top,  would  sustain  little  loss  until  June  if  re- 
sealed,  or  it  might  be  left  open,  and  a  little  of  that  ex- 
posed to  the  air  daily,  fed  to  the  horses  as  cut  feed. 
Our  horses,  thus  fed  last  winter,  relished  it  very  much. 

There  are  many  problems  in  regard  to  ensilage  that  arc 
still  unsolved  ;  but  should  everything  be  found  favorable 
to  the  new  method,  still  there  are  men  who  would  have 
no  more  use  for  a  silo,  than  for  a  trotting-horse.  There 
are  men  having  so  little  energy  and  skill,  that  should 
you  give  them  the  best  herd  of  Shorthorns,  they  Avould 
become  little  better  than  scrubs  in  ten  years.  Under  cer- 
tain conditions  the  method  can  be  adopted  with  profitable 
results  ;  but  he  who  rushes  thoughtlessly  into  it  will  find 
that  ensilage  is  too  "Frenchy,"  unless  mixed  with  a 
liberal  allowance  of  brains. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES  ON  ENSILAGE. 

The  following  items,  of  interest  to  those  who  are  in- 
vestigating the  subject  of  ensilage,  not  properly  belonging 
to  either  of  the  preceding  chapters,  are  here  brought  to- 
gether in  a  supplement. 

INCREASING   THE    CAPACITY    OF   A    SILO. 

Cut  fodder  corn  finally  settles  in  the  silo  to  two-thirds 
or  one-half  its  original   bulk.     If  a  silo  be  filled  and 


86  SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 

weights  put  on,  the  mass  settles,  and  there  is  a  great 
waste  of  space.  To  obviate  this,  and  to  utilize  the  full 
capacity  of  the  silo,  Mr.  Mills  proposes  to  erect  a  frame  of 
plank  to  extend  above  the  upper  edge  of  the  masonry  of 
the  silo  to  a  hight  corresponding  to  about  half  its  depth. 
After  the  silo  proper,  the  enclosure  of  masonry,  concrete, 
or  of  whatever  the  structure  may  be  built,  is  filled  with 
the  material,  this  frame  is  to  be  put  on,  and  the  filling 
continued  into  that.  The  covers  and  weights  are  to  be 
placed  upon  the  contents,  and  after  these  have  settled 
down  to  the  silo  proper,  the  frame  is  to  be  removed  and 
the  covering  put  on  permanently. 

ENSILAGE   FOR   POULTRY. 

All  who  have  had  any  experience  with  poultry  are  aware 
of  the  great  benefit  that  comes  from  a  proper  supply  of 
green  vegetable  food  during  the  winter.  This  is  ordi- 
narily supplied  by  feeding  cabbages,  stored  in  the  usual 
manner,  or  roots.  Those  who  have  tried  it,  assert  that 
ensilage  of  Indian  corn  may  be  fed  to  fowls  as  an  equiva- 
lent for  other  green  food  at  a  much  less  expense  than  such 
food  can  be  supplied  in  any  other  form. 

THE    CHEMISTRY    OF    ENSILAGE. 

Like  other  new  methods  in  agriculture,  ensilage  has 
its  enthusiastic  advocates,  and  its  opponents,  or,  at  least, 
those  who  are  indifferent  to  it. 

Much  that  has  been  written  upon  the  subject  is  in  a 
style  that  may  be  considered  as  sensational,  and  calcu- 
lated to  repel  the  earnest  seeker  after  facts,  and  convey 
the  imjiression  that  a  method  advocated  in  so  extrava- 
gant a  manner  may  not  be  of  real  value. 

It  is  claimed  by  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  method, 
that  chemical  analysis  shows  that  corn  fodder  is  injured 
by  ensilage,  and  its  feeding  value  lessened  by  the  loss  of 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES   ON    ENSILAGE.  87 

important  constituents.  This  statement  rests  mainly 
upon  the  results  obtained  by  Moser  at  the  Vienna  Experi- 
ment Station,  an  abstract  of  whose  article  was  presented 
by  Prof.  H.  P.  Armsby,  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School, 
New  Haven,  Conn. 

The  summing  up  of  the  analyses  of  Moser  shows  that 
the  corn  fodder,  as  treated  by  him,  lost  in  the  silo  from 
eight  to  thirty-eight  per  cent  of  albuminoids,  and  a  loss 
of  thirteen  to  fifty-eight  per  cent  of  nitrogen-free  extract, 
such  as  starch,  sugar,  etc. 

It  should  be  stated  that  these  analyses  are  not  strictly 
those  of  ensilage,  but  of  corn  fodder  made  into  bundles, 
placed  in  the  silo  at  different  depths,  and  surrounded  by 
the  cut  fodder.  A  portion  of  the  bundles  of  fodder 
were  allowed  to  wilt  for  a  few  days  before  they  were 
buried  in  the  cut  fodder,  a  condition  to  which  ensilage, 
in  this  country  at  least,  is  not  subjected.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  fermentation  can  not  take  place  without 
a  loss  in  the  material  fermented.  The  object  in  ensilage 
is  not  to  encourage  fermentation,  but  to  check  it.  If 
the  silo  is  perfectly  tight,  fermentation  will  cease  as  soon 
as  the  oxygen  in  the  air  that  is  inclosed  in  the  cut  fodder 
is  used  up.  The  more  perfect  the  process,  the  less  Avill 
be  the  fermentation,  and,  of  course,  the  smaller  the  loss 
in  the  constituents  of  the  fodder.  That  there  will  be 
some  loss  is  inevitable,  but  it  will  not  be  claimed  that 
Moser's  analyses  show  what  that  loss  is,  in  the  best  con- 
structed and  best  managed  silos.  When  that  loss  of 
feeding  constituents  is  accurately  ascertained,  we  shall 
then  be  able  to  judge  whether  or  not  it  is  counterbal- 
anced by  the  advantages  of  ensilage. 

The  author  of  the  article  referred  to,  Prof.  Armsby, 
in  his  admirable  "  Manual  of  Cattle  Feeding,"  remarks  : 
"  Corn  being  a  comparatively  cheap  crop,  the  losses  of 
material  during  the  fermentation  might  be  compensated 
by  the  improved  quality  of  the  residue." 


88  SILOS    AND    ENSILAGE. 

"It  does  not  appear  from  Grandeau's  analyses,  how- 
ever, that  there  is  any  marked  difference  in  this  respect 
between  fresh  maize  and  ensilage.  If  this  is  generally 
the  case,  then  fermented  corn  fodder  has  all  the  adran- 
tagcs  of  the  fresh  fodder,  and  no  others,  except  perhaps 
as  regards  palatability,  and  ensilage  is  to  be  looked  upon 
simply  as  a  method  of  preserving  corn  fodder  ;  and  the 
question  of  its  adoption  is  a  purely  economical  one." 

THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  MANURE. 

In  considering  the  advantages  of  ensilage,  the  superior 
mechanical  condition  of  the  manure  from  animals  fed 
upon  it,  should  not  be  overlooked.  When  ordinary  corn 
fodder  is  fed  without  cutting,  the  animals  reject  the  liard 
lower  portions,  and  these  go  to  the  manure  pile,  adding 
to  its  bulk  rather  than  to  its  value,  and  making  the- 
manure  very  difficult  to  handle  or  to  manage.  The 
fodder  being  cut  fine  for  ensilage  is  all  eaten.  Should 
any  be  rejected,  and  find  its  way  into  the  manure,  the 
small  size  of  the  pieces  make  them  unobjectionable. 

THE   ENSILAGE   CONGRESS. 

In  the  year  1882  some  gentlemen  interested  in  the 
preservation  of  fodder  by  ensilage,  and  in  the  machinery 
used  in  the  process,  issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  those 
who  practised  this  method.  It  was  lield  in  Xew  York 
City  and  was  attended  by  an  unexpectedly  large  number, 
showing  that  the  method  of  preserving  fodder  by  ensilage 
was  already  receiving  the  attention  of  many  farmers  and 
dairymen.  The  results  of  the  first  gathering  were  so 
satisfactory. that  it  was  followed  each  year  by  others,  and 
at  the  meeting  in  1886  a  permanent  organization.  The 
Ensilage  Congress,  was  formed.  The  Congress  has  the 
usual  officers,  and  is  to  meet  yearly  in  New  York  City  at 
the  call  of  the  President.     The  oflicers  chosen  for  1886 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES   ON    ENSILAGE.  89 

were :  President,  Edward  Gridley  ;  Secretary,  J.  B. 
Brown  ;  Treasurer,  W.  W.  Merriam ;  Vice-Presidents, 
0.  B.  Potter  and  nineteen  others.  The  annual  dues 
are  two  dollars.  A  Report  of  ihe  transactions  of  the 
Congress  is  published  yearly. 

CRIMSON   OR   SCARLET   CLOVER. 

Those  who  read  recent  English  works  on  ensilage  will 
find  frequent  mention  of  the  Crimson  or  Scarlet  Clover 
{Trifolium  incarnatum),  frequently  called  in  England 
red-top  clover.  This  is  an  annual  species,  growing  about 
two  feet  high,  and  bearing  an  oblong  head  of  very  brill- 
iant flowers — so  showy,  indeed,  that  the  plant  is  often 
cultivated  as  an  ornamental  annual.  As  an  agricultural 
plant  it  is  of  some  importance  in  Europe,  being  sown  in 
autumn  and  perfecting  in  early  spring.  In  his  work  on 
"Sweet  Ensilage,"  Mr.  George  Fry  makes  frequent  ref- 
erence to  this  clover.  On  page  57  he  says:  "Then, 
again,  there  are  many  excellent  fodder  crops,  such  as 
Trifolium  incarnatwn  (in  my  opinion  the  finest  of  all 
British  fodder  crops),"  etc. 

This  clover  was  introduced  into  this  country  as  early 
as  1818,  but  has  never  made  a  place  for  itself  in  our  agri- 
culture. It  may  be  now,  in  view  of  its  value  as  an  ensi- 
lage crop,  and  the  fact  that  being  an  annual,  it  may  be 
of  use  as  a  cleansing  crop,  that  some  of  our  farmers  may 
be  induced  to  make  a  trial  of  it.  Its  feeding  value,  while 
not  equal  to  that  of  the  perennial  clovers,  stands  high. 

TO   BUILD   A   CHEAP   SILO. 

Whatever  cheapens  the  cost  of  the  silo,  or  lessens  the 
expense  of  filling  it,  will  hasten  the  introduction  of  the 
method,  especially  upon  the  farms  of  those  of  moderate 
means.  Professor  Manly  Miles,  of  the  Massachusetts  Ag- 
ricultural College,  in  describing  the  silos  used  by  him 


90  SILOS   AND   EXSILAGE. 

in  his  important  experiments  on  ensilage,  says  :  **  A 
balloon  frame  of  scantling,  of  suitable  size,  covered  on  the 
outside  with  matched  boards,  and  lined  on  the  inside 
with  two  thicknesses  of  one-inch  matched  boards,  with 
a  layer  of  tarred  j^aper  between  them,  thus  securing  a 
practically  air-tight  inclosure,  surrounded  by  a  dead-air 
space  as  a  protection  against  frost,  is,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  writer,  the  best  and  cheapest  form  of  construction. 
If  the  boards  and  timbers  are  saturated  with  hot  coal-tar, 
which  can  readily  be  done  with  trifling  expense,  the  du- 
ration of  the  silo  will  be  very  much  increased." 

THE   TEMPERATUKE   IN   THE   SILO. 

To  ascertain  the  temperature  of  the  ensilage  at  any  given 
depth  in  the  silo,  provide  a  piece  of  gas-pipe  an  inch  in 
diameter.  At  the  lower  end  of  this  pipe,  weld,  or  attach 
by  a  screw  thread,  a  short,  steel  point.  Just  above  this 
point  bore  several  holes  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  pipe,  attach  a  ferrule 
to  which  are  welded  two  arms,  six  to  nine  inches  long. 
Thrust  a  lock  of  wool  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  tube,  to 
serve  as  a  cushion  upon  which  the  thermometer  may  rest. 
To  ascertain  the  temperature  of  the  ensilage  at  any  re- 
quired depth,  thrust  the  gas-tube  down  to  this  distance, 
allowiiig  it  to  remain  for  about  ten  minutes.  Then  lower 
down  to  the  bottom  of  the  tube  a  thermometer  (which 
has  its  degrees  marked  on  its  stem)  by  means  of  a  string 
until  it  rests  upon  the  wool  below.  In  the  course  of  an 
hour  witlidraw  the  thermometer  quickly  and  read  the 
temperature. 

NOMENCLATUKE. 

New  methods  and  new  processes  introduce  new  names, 
and  ensilage  has  proved  no  exception  to  this.     It  may  be 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES   ON   ENSILAGE.  91 

convenient  to  give  here  such  names  as  have  been  adopted, 
as  well  as  some  that  have  been  proposed. 

Silo — A  pit,  and,  as  now  used,  the  receptacle  for  fodder 
preserved  by  this  process,  whether  above  or  below  ground. 

Ensilage — The  method  of  saving  fodder  in  silos  ;  also 
the  contents  of  a  silo,  or  pitted  fodder.  In  England  this 
is  abbreviated  to  Silage,  which  is  sometimes  used  in  this 
country,  but  it  failed  of  adoption  by  the  last  Ensilage 
Congress. 

To  Ensilo — To  place  in  a  silo. 

Ensiloer — One  who  ensiloes. 

Ensiloed — Perfect  participle  of  to  ensilo. 

Ensiloing — Present  participle  of  to  ensilo. 

The  substitution  of  silage  for  ensilage  would  be  conve- 
nient, leaving  ensilage  to  indicate  the  system  of  preserv- 
ing fodder.  The  matter  was  discussed  at  the  last  Ensilage 
Congress,  the  chief  objection  to  silage  being  that  it  was 
EngHsh.  The  Congress  voted  to  retain  ensilage  to  denote 
both  the  system  and  the  contents  of  the  silo.  Still,  if  it  is 
found  more  convenient,  silage  will  come  into  general  use. 

THE   champion    SILO   OF    ENGLAND. 

The  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England  was  last 
year  commissioned  by  its  President,  Sir  Massey  Lopes,  to 
offer  a  prize  of  $500  for  *'  the  best  silo  in  England 
and  AVales  in  actual  work  during  the  winter  of  1885-86." 
In  the  competition  for  this  prize  tlicre  were  no  less  than 
thirty-seven  silos,  the  result  being  that  the  prize  was 
awarded  to  Mr.  John  Morris,  of  Tutham  Court,  Madley, 
Herefordshire,  for  the  silo  of  which  we  give  an  illustra- 
tion (fig.  20).  In  their  report  to  the  Royal  Agricultural 
Society,  the  judges  give  a  capital  description  of  this  silo. 
It  is  an  entirely  new  structure,  thirty-six  feet  in  length, 
fifteen  feet  in  width,  and  thirteen  feet  in  height,  with  a 


92 


SILOS   AND   ENSILAGE. 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES    ON    ENSILAGE.  93 

super  silo  or  shed  above,  seven  feet  in  height;  to  the  eaves 
of  the  roof.  The  silo  may  be  described  as  an  underground 
silo,  walled  in  with  stone,  and  excavated  ten  feet  deep,  the 
surrounding  ground  being  banked  up  three  feet  to  the 
top.  On  the  coping  are  built  ten  brick  piers,  seven  feet 
in  height,  and  upon  these  the  roof  is  supported.  The  silo 
is  divided  by  two  cross  walls  into  three  compartments.  In 
these  walls  are  planked  openings,  affording  ready  commu- 
nication from  one  compartment  to  the  other.  There  is 
a  third  opening  m  the  front  wall.  The  middle  compart- 
ment, which  is  approached  from  the  farm-yard  by  a 
walled,  sloping  road,  wide  enough  for  a  cart  to  pass  along. 
The  cost  of  building  this  silo  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  two  pounds,  eighteen  shillings  and  eightpence,  (five 
hundred  and  fourteen  dollars  and  fifty-six  cents),  the 
cost  being  moderate,  and  amounting  to  only  fourteen 
shillings  (three  dollars  and  fifty  cents)  jier  fifty  cubic  feet 
of  capacity.  The  silo  was  filled  in  fourteen  days,  during 
which  time  the  weather  was  superb.  The  crop  consisted 
of  oats  and  grass,  cut  in  full  bloom,  and  unchaffed.  The 
pressure  adopted  was  that  of  men  and  horses  first  tread- 
ing down  the  contents,  and  then  continued  pressure  by 
leverage.  The  ensilage  was  found  good  and  sweet,  and  was 
well  utilized.  The  silo  is  in  close  proximity  to  the  cattle 
folds,  Avherc  some  hundred  head  of  pure  bred  Herefords 
are  kept.  There  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons 
of  ensilage  made  in  this  silo,  and  the  whole  has  been 
eaten  by  the  Herefords  without  the  slightest  waste.  The 
silo  has  thus  proved  a  success  in  every  way. 


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